Volkswagen and US govt agree on diesel buyback deal, “substantial compensation”

Just as we were going to press, San Francisco district judge Charles Breyer has confirmed that the two parties have reached a provisional agreement.

For the roughly 480,000 EA189 2.0-litre turbo-diesel Volkswagen and Audi cars equipped an emissions testing defeat device, Volkswagen will offer owners and lessees the option of either full buy back or lease termination.

Owners and lessees of affected EA189 cars can also opt for an all-expenses paid upgrade to legal specification, although details about the remediation work has yet to be agreed to with authorities.

According to Automotive News, regardless of the option chosen by owners and lessees, they will be given "substantial compensation". Die Welt believes that compensation will be up to $US5000 ($6400) per vehicle.

Volkswagen will also be forced to promote green vehicle technologies, as well as establish a fund to remediate the environmental damage caused by its legal NOx (oxides of nitrogen) emissions.

This deal doesn't include the roughly 80,000 or so Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche vehicles that are equipped with an Audi-designed 3.0-litre V6 TDI, which also a features an emissions testing defeat device.

Nor does this current deal include any fines that might be levied by both federal and state authorities.

Volkswagen USA has just released a short statement: "Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of its customers, dealers, regulators and the American public. These agreements in principle are an important step on the road to making things right. As noted today in court, customers in the United States do not need to take any action at this time."

Die Welt believes that owners of affected vehicles in Germany will push for similar terms in their agreement with the automaker. As such, Volkswagen will be forced to substantially increase the amount of money set aside for compensation and remediation work.

At present, the world's number two car maker has allocated 6.7 billion euros ($9.8 billion) to deal with the fallout of the dieselgate scandal.

This is a developing story, which we'll update as details come to hand.

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