VW Agrees to Fix or Buy Back V-6 Diesels
CARS.COM — Volkswagen has reached an agreement with federal regulators to fix or buy back roughly 83,000 diesel vehicles fitted with emissions-cheating software. The deal covers roughly 63,000 model-year 2013-16 Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter V-6 “Generation 2” engines and 20,000 model-year 2009-12 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles with “Generation 1” engines.
Related: VW Diesel Crisis: Timeline of Events
Vehicles included in this latest agreement were not covered by an earlier $14.7 billion settlement that included nearly half a million 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesels. Under the new settlement — which requires court approval expected to come no sooner than spring 2017 — VW will recall 63,000 of the affected vehicles and either bring them into compliance with emissions standards or buy them back from owners or terminate their leases.
VW will also buy back or terminate leases on the other 20,000 older vehicles, or “modify the vehicles to substantially reduce” emissions to allow owners to keep them. In the cases of both the newer and older affected vehicles, emissions-reduction modifications require the approval of the EPA and California Air Resources Board.
The automaker also must contribute $225 million to an environmental remediation trust being established under VW’s previous settlement for the 2.0-liter vehicles in the U.S. for the purpose of fully mitigating the lifetime emissions of the affected vehicles. In addition, VW must pay $25 million to CARB to support the use of zero-emissions vehicles in California.
“The agreement announced by the court today between Volkswagen and U.S. environmental regulators is another important step forward in our efforts to make things right for our customers, and we support the efforts of the court to bring about a fair and reasonable resolution of remaining 3.0-liter TDI V-6 claims as quickly as possible,” Hinrich J. Woebcken, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a statement.
The court also announced that the automaker had reached an agreement on “substantial aspects” of financial compensation owners and lessees of affected vehicles would receive. The details of those discussions remain confidential. A status hearing is scheduled for Thursday, and a formal agreement is due to the court by Jan. 31, 2017.
VW noted that owners of affected 3.0-liter V-6 diesels needn’t take any action at this time and can go to www.VWCourtSettlement.com for more info.
