VW U.S. Settlement Price Tag Grows to $15B

June 27, 2016 by Alan Katz and John Lippert

Volkswagen AG’s price tag to settle lawsuits in the U.S. over its rigging of diesel emissions tests has jumped to more than $15 billion—$5 billion more than previously reported.

A settlement is set to be filed Tuesday in a San Francisco court.

Car owners will get a total of $10.03 billion, which covers both the value of their vehicles before the scandal became public last September and compensation payments of as much as $10,000 apiece, two people familiar with the negotiations said. Those figures could rise if VW misses certain repair deadlines.

That total far exceeds any previous U.S. civil settlement with an automaker, and it brings VW closer to the $18.3 billion it has set aside to cover the costs of the scandal.

The compensation figure jumped over the past few days, these people said, as the parties changed their estimates on what it would take to get some 85 percent of owners to trade in their vehicles under the settlement.

On top of that, Volkswagen will pay $2.7 billion in fines that will go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, and will spend an additional $2 billion on clean-emissions technology, one of the people said. The carmaker is also expected to announce a settlement with states, including New York, for about $400 million, another person said.

The latest figure is a sharp increase from the $10 billion Volkswagen had been expected to pay to settle the lawsuits as recently as last week. The agreements between VW and the U.S. Department of Justice, the EPA and the California Air Resources Board will be filed with Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by noon San Francisco time on Tuesday.

Wyn Hornbuckle of the Justice Department, Jeannine Ginivan of Volkswagen and Nick Conger of the EPA declined to comment.

VW, whose brands include Audi and Porsche, has admitted to systematically rigging environmental tests since 2009 to hide that its diesel vehicles were emitting far more pollutants than allowed under U.S. and California law.

The case is In Re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2672, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).