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The scandal known as “Dieselgate” has been going on since at least 2015, when German automaker Volkswagen admitted to installing cheating software on their vehicles. The software recognized when vehicles were attached to a testing facility and emitted lower emissions to pass the test. However, when driving normally, the autos emitted nearly 40 times the legal amounts of pollutants into the air. Now, a federal appeals court has upheld a $10.03 billion dollar settlement with owners of Volkswagen vehicles. The Insurance Journal reports on the upholding of the verdict.
The verdict, which was rendered in 2016, covered more than 500,000 vehicles, ordering the auto manufacturer to compensate the owners of the vehicles.
The ruling pertained to the owners of Volkswagen 2.0-liter vehicles. Volkswagen had offered the owners of the vehicles between $5,100 to $10,000 in compensation in addition to the value of the vehicle.
The 3-judge panel dismissed attorneys’ objections to the settlement, stating that the settlement provided “tangible, substantial benefits” to litigants in the class-action lawsuit.
Volkswagen has agreed to pay $25 billion in the United States alone to vehicle owners, environmental regulators, states, and individual dealers.
This past May, federal prosecutors in Detroit unsealed charges that indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winkerhorn. Two additional former VW employees have pleaded guilty to varying charges and are now serving prison terms.
Volkswagen has fixed or removed 85% of all affected 2009-2015 2.0-liter vehicles. The company reached a separate settlement regarding 3.0-liter vehicle owners, buying back 20,000 of those 80,000 vehicles.
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