Volkswagen is nearing to the time where it will put its diesel emissions scandal behind it, after accepting one of the biggest consumer class-action settlements ever in the U.S., as per Hiroko Tabuchi and Jack Ewing at The New York Times. The embattled German automaker agreed recently to pay $14.7 billion with relation to 475,000 of its diesel automobiles that were equipped with software created to cheat air-quality tests.
Under the terms of the offer, Volkswagen will purchase back impacted automobiles from American owners at pre-scandal values, along with cash payment varying from $5,100 to $10,000 per owner. The extraordinary deal overshadows present car industry settlements, like the $1.4 billion Toyota paid over problematic accelerators and over $2 billion General Motors has paid to settle claims associated with malfunctioning ignition switches.
“The final reckoning for Volkswagen is most likely to cost the company billions more,” stated Edward Niedermeyer at Bloomberg. The automaker could still be fined approximately $45 billion by the Environmental Protection Agency for violations of the Clean Air Act, because the impacted cars gushed nitrogen oxide at as much as 40 times the legal limit. However it gets even worse for the automaker in Europe. With some 8.5 million Volkswagen diesel engines on the road there, the expenses of any settlements and fines might be ravaging. Then there’s the gush of lawsuits from investors furious with Volkswagen for waiting too long to notify them about the crisis. Previous CEO Martin Winterkorn and present brand name chief Herbert Diess face criminal charges of industry manipulation for that same factor, so the claims could acquire massive tailwinds as those cases progress.
