Volkswagen to compensate Dieselgate affected owners of 3.0L TDI engine equipped cars in US; will buy back 20,000 more vehicles
German automaker Volkswagen has struck a deal to compensate Dieselgate affected 3.0-litre TDI owners in US. The company has reached a principal agreement with around 83,000 owners of affected 3.0-litre TDI engine powered vehicles in the country. Under this deal, it will buy back 20,000 cars, while the remaining 63,000 vehicles will get free fixing.
The exact figure of the compensation is yet to be announced. But US District Judge Charles Breyer has said, half of the agreed compensation will be paid after the final approval to the settlement is given. He also informed, a final agreement needs to be filed in court by 31st January, 2017 and its hearing will be on 14th February.
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Apart from this compensation to the owners of affected 3.0-litre TDI owners, Volkswagen has also agreed to pay a $1 billion settlement to the US regulators. So far, the new compensation amount for 3.0L TDI engines could go up to between $400 million and $800 million. Earlier the German automaker agreed to pay compensation to the affected 2.0-litre TDI owners. In that case, the company has been paying an amount between $5,000 and $10,000 to 4.75 lakh customers.
Dieselgate has been the biggest scam in world automotive history. It came under scanner in US in September 2015. The United Stated Environmental protection Agency (EPA) issued notice against the German brand under Clean Air Act, as it was found that the Volkswagen TDI diesel engines are equipped with emission cheating software. Due to this, the engines were emitting 40% higher pollutant in air but that couldn’t be detected during lab tests.
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Later it was found that Volkswagen has been cheating the emission tests in several countries across the world. Also, brand like Audi and Porsche under the VW group have been found doing the similar things. In India too Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles were found with emission cheating software. But the company has cleared that it won’t offer compensation like US in any other countries.
Source: Reuters