Volkswagen To Spend $10.2B In Settlement

Volkswagen will pay a pretty steep price for the emissions cheating scandal the car manufacturer was involved in.

A person close to the matter revealed this week that, Volkswagen has agreed to pay about $10.2 billion to settle claims in the U.S. resulting from the scandal. This amount would eclipse the cost of all recent automotive scandals.

According to two people briefed on the settlement talks, the settlement would go mainly to compensate the 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to cheat on emissions tests.

After an investigation, it was found that the cars had emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide.

Since learning about the scandal last September, Volkswagen car owners have seen the value of their vehicles decline.

According to the two people, Volkswagen will offer to fix the cars for free. However any fix will likely hurt the cars’ acceleration and fuel economy so the owners can sell their car back to the company.

One of the sources has revealed that Volkswagen will also have to pay penalties to government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board and the Federal Trade Commission.

The settle is not yet final and details are scheduled to be released next week by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer. The two people said that lawyers are working around the clock on the final details.