In October, a federal judge signed the final agreement covering the majority of cars affected by the Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal. That allowed the Volkswagen Group to start issuing buyback offers for half a million vehicles sold by the VW and Audi brands from 2009 through 2015 that were fitted with 2.0-liter TDI diesel engines. But four... Volkswagen diesel buyback: some buyers still waiting
In October, a federal judge signed the final agreement covering the majority of cars affected by the Volkswagen diesel-emissions scandal. That allowed the Volkswagen Group to start issuing buyback offers for half a million vehicles sold by the VW and Audi brands from 2009 through 2015 that were fitted with 2.0-liter TDI diesel engines. But four...
A Volkswagen executive appeared in a federal courtroom in Detroit on Thursday to be arraigned on charges related to the automaker's diesel-emissions cheating. Oliver Schmidt previously headed the VW Group's U.S. regulatory compliance group. He was arrested by the FBI in Florida last month, while attempting to return home to Germany from a...
Shock waves from Volkswagen's admission that it had installed "defeat device" software on its so-called clean diesels to cheat on emission tests continue to reverberate around the auto industry. The diesel-emission scandal that emerged in September 2015 has already cost VW Group more than $20 billion, and dozens of investigations around the world...
A prominent lobbying group believes environmental remediation funds from Volkswagen diesel settlements should be spent on new "clean" diesel vehicles. The settlement for 2.0-liter TDI cars approved last year requires VW to pay $2.7 billion into a trust, managed by a third party. Volkswagen agreed to put an additional $225 million into the trust...
Statements from the boards of directors of automakers are generally dry, dispassionate, and formal. So the language of a terse item issued yesterday by the board of Volkswagen Group was remarkable in its directness. Not to mention its inferences about the company's former CEO Ferdinand Piech, who remains a powerful and major shareholder. DON'T...
More than 16 months after Volkswagen's use of illegal "defeat device" software in diesel vehicles was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency, some progress is finally being made in addressing the affected cars. Settlements are now in place for almost half a million VW and Audi models with 2.0-liter TDI 4-cylinder engines, as well as...
With a judge set to weigh in on the settlement VW Group negotiated with its 3.0-liter V-6 diesel owners, Volkswagen seems to have settled most of the U.S. legal claims stemming from its diesel-emission cheating scandal. Total costs in the U.S. alone are now more than $20 billion, and among other penalties, VW has pleaded guilty to three felony...
Volkswagen today announced that it had reached a settlement with owners of Audi, Porsche, and VW vehicles fitted with its 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engine. Different remedies apply depending on the vehicle's model year: 2009 through 2012 cars will be bought back, while 2013 through 2016 vehicles will be modified to comply with emission limits. The...
The Volkswagen diesel scandal has led to much greater scrutiny on the methods regulatory agencies use to test vehicle emissions, particularly in Europe. Even before news of Volkswagen's diesel "defeat device" software broke, the European fuel-economy testing cycle was known to be overly optimistic, producing results that buyers could not replicate...
German prosecutors have extended a probe into Volkswagen's use of "defeat device" software in diesel cars to former CEO Martin Winterkorn. Winterkorn, who resigned shortly after the existence of VW "defeat device" software was revealed by the EPA last September, has said he had no knowledge of the emissions-manipulating software until shortly...
A settlement between Volkswagen and its U.S. franchised dealers over the diesel-emissions scandal has been approved by a federal judge. First announced last August, the settlement calls for VW dealers to compensated for the alleged loss in value of their franchises related to fallout from the scandal. Dealers initially considered launching a...
When news of its diesel-emissions cheating broke last September, Volkswagen issued a stop-sale order for affected TDI diesel cars. Now that a settlement for 2.0-liter TDI models has been approved, the automaker is also beginning to buy back cars with illegal "defeat device" software from customers. But what happens to all of these cars once they...
A lot has been said about Volkswagen's use of "defeat device" software in diesel cars to cheat on emissions tests, but a German court may win the prize for most-creative description. VW "defeat device" software is like putting horse meat in lasagna, three German judges decreed during a recent hearing related to the diesel scandal. Besides...
Last week, Volkswagen settled an array of criminal and civil charges over its 16-month-old diesel scandal with the U.S. Justice Department. The news of the settlement was quickly swamped by a variety of further stories, both on the regulatory and diesel fronts. Those included the arrest of one Volkswagen executive, and the issuance of warrants for...
It's been a busy week for U.S. agencies as they release information on their final actions before a new administration takes office. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly opened a criminal probe into the actions of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over the emission certification of its diesel engines. The investigation follows an...
On Wednesday, six senior VW Group executives were indicted by the Justice Department on multiple counts of conspiracy and intent to defraud. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, to defraud customers, and to violate the Clean Air Act. All stemmed from the Volkswagen diesel scandal that erupted in September 2015. Over the...
The head of VW Group's U.S. regulatory compliance group was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation this weekend on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Oliver Schmidt led the German automaker's regulatory compliance during 2014 and the early part of 2015. The Volkswagen diesel emission scandal erupted in September 2015 when...
When the Volkswagen diesel scandal erupted last year, it not only hurt the public perception of diesel vehicles in the U.S., but also eliminated the biggest seller of diesel passenger cars from the market. TDI diesel models once made up as much as a quarter of the Volkswagen brand's U.S. sales, and VW Group's Audi and Porsche luxury brands sold...
The $14.7 billion diesel-emission settlement among Volkswagen and regulatory agencies required VW to buy back or modify almost half a million TDI vehicles from model years 2009 through 2015. While the buybacks have received the most attention—and most owners are expected to take them—the company also submitted plans to modify its...
In the U.S., owners of Volkswagen 2.0-liter TDI diesel cars with illegal "defeat device" software have reached a settlement with VW—and a preliminary agreement for a smaller number of affected 3.0-liter V-6 diesels is largely, if not entirely, settled. It may have taken months of negotiating, but 2.0-liter diesel owners can be assured of...