Volkswagen pay about $10.2 billion to settle claims from its emissions cheating scandal that has tossed the German automaker into chaos.
Citing two anonymous sources, the Associated Press reported much of the money would go toward the 482,000 owners of VW “clean diesel” vehicles that were caught up in the scandal. The vehicles contained so-called “defeat devices” that allowed the vehicles to pass emissions tests, but then the software would switch to a normal mode when tests were done, allowing the cars to spew about 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen into the atmosphere.
One of the AP’s sources said the agreement was tentative and could be changed by the time an official announcement comes from a judge on Tuesday. The money would be used to fix the vehicles, buy them back and compensate owners, according to the report.
Other funds in the settlement would pay off government fines and would be used to try to fix the environmental damage done by the vehicles, the report said.
Most vehicle owners would receive an average of $5,000, according to the report.
The Environmental Protection Agency declined to comment on the report when reached by the Washington Examiner Thursday.
Volkswagen equipped its 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter, clean diesel vehicles with the rigged software. About 585,000 vehicles in the U.S. have the software.
Nitrogen pollution can cause smog and release fine particulate matter into the air. Those pollutants are linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses that can cause premature death. Children, the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions see increased risk for harm when they are exposed to the pollutants, the EPA says.
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the German auto giant, and the EPA and the California Air Resource Board are mulling punitive measures. A recall of the vehicles has not been announced in the U.S, but has been issued in Europe.
The scandal has resulted in top company officials resigning as well as a drop in sales for the German automaker.
