Volkswagen has reportedly reached a settlement with the US government and private law firms over how to compensate owners for its dieselgate scandal. According to Die Welt, the German car maker will set aside USD$1 billion (RM3.89 billion) to compensate roughly 600,000 owners of Volkswagen Group vehicles in the US with the emissions-cheating device.
Each affected Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicle owner will reportedly be given USD$5,000 (RM19.5k). The German publication added that Volkswagen will also bear the full cost of fixing each vehicle in the country. A Volkswagen spokesperson had declined to comment on the issue.
The Associated Press reports that some owners in the US will have the option of either having Volkswagen recall and repair their vehicles, while others may choose to have Volkswagen buy the vehicles back. A specific plan for the distribution of the USD$1 billion has not been revealed yet.
It is said that the full announcement will be made this week at a federal court hearing in San Francisco. District court judge Charles Breyer is expected to decide on a schedule for depositions and information exchanges between all relevant parties. The US judge told Volkswagen’s lawyers to come up with a detailed repair and compensation plan by Thursday.
Do note that this dieselgate issue here is a separate matter from the one ongoing in Europe. There, Volkswagen has claimed that the matter has been largely concluded. Recently, however, owners of rectified vehicles have complained that fuel consumption figures have increased. This has delayed the car maker’s rectification processes there.
