VW reaches settlement covering 80,000 more vehicles: report

Volkswagen has reportedly reached an agreement with government officials to fix or buy back up to 80,000 more vehicles equipped with illegal software designed to skirt federal emissions tests.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that VW has agreed to terms with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board in the ongoing legal fight over the “defeat devices” discovered last year in several models of VW vehicles. 

{mosads}Under the plan, VW would fix around 60,000 3-liter Audi, VW and Porsche vehicles and offer to repurchase about 19,000 older models from consumers, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. 

The agreement — if it’s finalized — would build on previous settlements between regulators and Volkswagen, which last year was caught installing software programs designed to turn off emission protections on several models of diesel vehicles. 

A federal judge in October approved a $14.7 billion plan to settle disputes over 2-liter vehicles equipped with the software. Of that total, $10 billion will go toward repairing or replacing the vehicles, but it did not include 3-liter vehicles with the defeat devices installed.

VW has also agreed to pay $1.2 billion to U.S. franchise dealers.

After Bloomberg’s Tuesday report, a lawyer for a consumer group suing over the scandal said in a statement, “No settlement agreement has been reached on behalf of owners and lessees.” 

Any deal, the lawyer said, “must grant these consumers similar benefits — including a choice between a buyback or a fix if approved by regulators — as were offered to class members in the 2-liter vehicle litigation.”