Report: VW Could Offer Diesel-Car Buy-Back Program

CARS.COM — Citing two unnamed sources, Reuters reports Volkswagen has struck a deal with U.S. regulators to repurchase as many as 500,000 affected diesel vehicles with exhaust systems that evade regulatory emissions testing. The repurchase offer could apply to vehicles with Volkswagen’s diesel 2.0-liter four-cylinder, though not necessarily V-6 diesel models from Volkswagen and its Audi division, which also have the emissions-evading software.

Related: More on the Volkswagen Diesel Crisis

The news comes as U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, the federal judge overseeing lawsuits in Volkswagen’s diesel crisis, extended until Thursday a deadline for the automaker to report on a plan to remedy faulty emissions systems in nearly 600,000 U.S. cars from the 2009 to 2016 model years. In March, Breyer cited “substantial progress” toward a deal, but he did not share full details on a solution.

Separately, the Associated Press reported via The Detroit News that VW would spend more than $1 billion in total compensation for diesel owners. That would come atop $1,000 goodwill payments VW issued back for owners in November 2015.

In extending VW’s deadline to Thursday, Breyer said in March that the automaker’s “proposal may include a vehicle buy-back plan or a fix approved by the relevant regulators that allows the cars to remain on the road with certain modifications or both or even other remedies,” according to court transcripts of the March hearing. But he added that whatever proposal VW submits “must be specific and detailed as to proposed timing, what cars are involved in each proposal, payments to consumers and the like.”

Volkswagen wouldn’t comment on today’s news reports; neither would Lynn Fuller, a spokeswoman for Breyer’s office.

We will know more after a court hearing that Breyer will convene Thursday morning. Read the full report from Reuters here, and stay tuned for more details.