Volkswagen Closes In on $4.3 Billion US Settlement in Diesel Scandal (bloomberg.com)

Volkswagen said it's closing in on a deal with U.S. authorities on a $4.3 billion settlement to resolve civil and criminal allegations stemming from its emissions-cheating scandal. From a report on Bloomberg: The agreement, which has yet to be finalized, would lead to a financial expense that exceeds current provisions, the German automaker said. It also includes a guilty plea to some criminal charges, strengthening compliance systems and installing an independent monitor for three years, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based automaker said Tuesday in a statement. VW's management and supervisory boards are scheduled to review the settlement today or Wednesday and may raise provisions related to the scandal, which currently total 18.2 billion euros ($19.2 billion). A final agreement also needs to be approved by U.S. courts. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on Volkswagen's statement.

Comments

double standards

[Avarist]

So will anyone complain about the US targeting European companies for cash, or is that only allowed when it's the EU that does it?

Re:double standards

[ShanghaiBill]

Only allowed when the EU targets a USA company.

This situation is not quite the same as the EU targeting Google or Facebook.
1. VW clearly broke the law.
2. Their actions were illegal in both the US and the EU.
3. VW employs a lot of people in America, and has a big factory in Chattanooga, TN.
When the EU goes after American tech companies it is for questionable infractions about some BS European censorship issue like "the right to be forgotten" or a random user expressing unpopular historical opinions, or maybe a photo of some chick wearing a burkini on a French beach. Americans care much less about what people wear, and even less about what they say.

Looks like GM got off easy

[haruchai]

GM's penalty for the ignition switch fiasco is less than $1 billion for a deliberate defect about which the the company tried to cover up and lied about for years and killed over 100 people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com...?

Who did VW piss off or forget to blow?

I'm not saying VW should pay less but I don't understand how what they did merits higher fines

Re:Looks like GM got off easy

[Anonymous Coward]

GM designed a switch that worked in most circumstances, but failed for a corner case.
GM initially shipped not intending to cause harm.
GM did not intentionally break the law.
GM was slow to fix it once caught.

VW did the reverse on all counts.

Both transgressions contributed to the deaths of folks.
My bad-o-meter for which is worse points to VW.

The interesting question here is what punishment will happen personally to the a few of the top folks in charge.
Jail time sounds fair, but if the settlement eliminates that possibility,then in exchange it should shred any Golden parachutes and clawback some bonuses.
Lacking that, the lesson is it's ok to break the law because the company will take care of you.
Want to place odds on what the lesson turns out to be?

Re:Looks like GM got off easy

[Uberbah]

GM initially shipped not intending to cause harm.

And a drunk driver doesn't "intend" to cause harm when he gets behind the wheel and ends up killing someone. I suggest Googling the definition of negligence.

GM did not intentionally break the law.

They knowing sold a switch more than a decade after they knew it was defective. Full stop.

Re:Buyback deal

[Paul Carver]

I don't think there should have been a buyback at all. Why should VW be allowed to make their customers jump through hoops or file paperwork. The way it should have been ordered by the courts to work is this:

1) VW owner drives car to VW dealer.
2) Dealer looks up original sticker price (if necessary, look up VIN to find if it was purchased at a different dealer and get the sticker price there.)
3) Customer picks out a car off the lot (possibly with a restriction that the sticker price must be within x% of the sticker price of the car they are returning)
4) If sticker price of new car is lower, VW issues customer a check for the difference in price
5) If sticker price is higher, customer pays the difference (or chooses a different car off the lot)
6) Customer drives away in new car

If customer can't find a single car on the lot that they would want to have, they can go to any other VW dealer and have the same options.

If customer doesn't want a VW at all they can still follow the steps above and sell the brand new car. They ought to be able to get enough from a used car dealer to be worth at least as much as the used price of the VW they originally bought.

VW should do all the paperwork. All the customer should have to do is sign the papers agreeing to a straight swap of the old for new plus the dollar amount of the difference in sticker prices.

Re:Buyback deal

[DogDude]

What you're describing is absurd and childish. The world doesn't work that way. VW needs to have a signed contract with everybody, there needs to be a verification of ownership, transfer of title, and all of that good stuff.