Volkswagen said the company has bought back or repaired over half of 475,000 polluting 2.0-liter diesel automobiles under a U.S. government settlement, only 6 months after it introduced the largest-ever vehicle repurchase offer.
The world’s biggest automaker stated in a letter to a U.S. judge managing the settlement that as of Wednesday, it redeemed or terminated leases on almost 238,000 vehicles and fixed 6,200 after it confessed in 2015 to covertly setting up software that let vehicles give off approximately 40 times legally-allowable pollution levels.
Under the contract, Volkswagen must redeem or repair a minimum of 85 percent of the automobiles by 2019 or face extra penalties.
In March, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to fraud, blockage of justice and falsifying declarations as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. The automaker is to be sentenced to 3 years of probation on April 21 by a federal judge in Detroit. According to plea contract, the car manufacturer needs to make reforms and deals with oversight by a yet to be named independent monitor.
The September 2015 disclosure that Volkswagen purposefully cheated on emissions tests for a minimum of 6 years resulted in the ouster of its chief executive, harmed the company’s credibility around the world and triggered enormous costs.
In overall, VW has consented to spend approximately $25 billion in the United States to resolve claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and provided to redeem about 500,000 pollution U.S. vehicles.
