Owners of the 475,000 Volkswagen vehicles with 2-liter diesels covered under the settlement will receive payments ranging from $5,100 to $10,000. In addition, Volkswagen will either repair their cars to bring them into compliance with emissions laws or buy them back in order to scrap them.
"We're getting VW's polluting vehicles off the road and we're reducing harmful pollution in our air, pollution that you never should have been emitted in the first place," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at a press conference. She called it a "groundbreaking settlement."
VW has admitted to inserting software in VW and Audi cars with 2-lliter engines going back to 2009 that allows them to beat emissions tests. The case reflects "one of the most flagrant violations of environmental and consumer laws in our country's history," Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told reporters.
She said that VW could face additional actions as well. A case is still pending against the automaker over its 3-liter diesel vehicles. Plus, she says the Justice Department is "aggressively" looking at possible criminal prosecutions involving "multiple companies and multiple individuals."
In addition to more than $10 billion for the owners and the cars, VW will pay $2.7 billion in environmental mitigation and another $2 billion on clean-emissions technology. The total could climb even higher as other cases against VW, including one from states' attorneys general, come to conclusion.
In any case, 85% of the cars have be fixed or off the road by July, 2019.
Under the agreement, Volkswagen will buy back cars at prices tied to last September before the scandal became known and resale values plummeted. The automaker will not be allowed to ship them to other countries to avoid scrapping them. For those owners who elect to keep their cars, VW still hasn't disclosed how it will go about repairing them or how much their performance will be affected. Some may not be repairable.
The amount of the payment to owners, which would be in addition to the buyback price, will depend on a number of factors, such as type, age of the vehicle, number of miles and others. The goal, say those involved in crafting the agreement, was to make sure those who trade in aren't favored over those who elect to have their cars fixed.
