A federal judge has approved a $14.7-billion settlement in the Volkswagen[1] emissions-cheating case, the largest auto-scandal settlement in U.S. history.
The deal, approved Tuesday, gives about 475,000 owners of Volkswagens and Audis with 2-liter diesel engines the opportunity to have their cars bought back or modified by Volkswagen and to seek additional cash compensation. It also provides billions of dollars to support environmental programs, reduce emissions and promote zero-emissions vehicles.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, who has overseen the litigation against the German automaker, approved the settlement that was proposed in July. He called the deal "fair, reasonable and adequate."
The VW scandal erupted a year ago when Volkswagen admitted that it had installed "cheat devices" on diesel-powered cars from 2009 through 2015. The devices enabled the vehicles' engines to emit less pollutants during emissions tests than during normal road use.
The scandal[2] involved nearly 600,000 cars in the United States, including about 71,000 in California, and 11 million Volkswagen vehicles worldwide.
Volkswagen said Tuesday that it would start to implement the U.S. settlement immediately and that it was hiring 900 people to help with the buybacks, including one employee to be stationed at each of its 652 U.S. dealerships.
The automaker also has a website, vwcourtsettlement.com[3], with details about the settlement and instructions for people who own or lease affected cars. Terms of the settlement and a list of the vehicles involved also are available at on the court's website[4].
The settlement "is an important milestone in our journey to make things right in the United States," Hinrich Woebcken, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America Inc., said in a statement.
Under the settlement, owners of certain 2-liter diesel cars made by Volkswagen in the model years 2009 through 2015 will receive between $12,500 and $44,000 from the automaker to buy back their cars. Leases of those vehicles may be terminated without penalty, and leaseholders also may seek cash payments.
Instead of having their cars bought back, drivers can choose to have VW modify their vehicles to meet emissions standards — once that method is approved by the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency. Federal officials said such a modification does not yet exist, though the company is working on a fix.
Regardless of whether they choose the buyback or modification option, owners also will receive a cash payment of at least $5,100 and as much as $10,000, depending on the model.
The 475,000 cars affected by the agreement include Volkswagen's popular Beetles, Golfs, Jettas and Passats. Some Audi[5] A3s also are covered.
The agreement does not cover about 90,000 cars with 3.0-liter engines that also had the cheating software. Volkswagen, regulators and consumers' lawyers are still negotiating a possible settlement for those vehicles.
Under the deal, Volkswagen will pay $2.7 billion into a trust to support environmental programs and reduce emissions, as well as shell out $2 billion over a 10-year period to invest in and promote zero-emissions vehicles.
Volkswagen overall is to spend up to $10 billion to buy back or modify the VW and Audi 2.0-liter diesel vehicles in the United States and to give additional compensation to car owners and lessees. Th e final figure depends on how many people take advantage of the offer.
"The funds won't fully compensate owners who thought they were buying a better vehicle, but it is a strong step toward ensuring Volkswagen won't try to cheat again," Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club in California, said in a statement. "Volkswagen chose to poison our families with dangerous pollution just to pad its pocketbook."
When the scandal surfaced, Volkswagen stopped selling diesel-powered vehicles in the United States, and its chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, resigned and was replaced by Matthias Muller, formerly head of VW's Porsche[6] division.
But the damage to Volkswagen's reputation was immediate and harsh, and the company's sales suffered.
Through the first nine months of this year, the company said, U.S. sales of Volkswagen models tumbled 12.5% to 231,300 vehicles, down from 264,200 in the same period last year. Combined U.S. sales of all VW brands, including Audi and Porsche, fell 6.1% to 426,000 vehicles in the January-through-September period.
Volkswagen hopes some new models will help the company's U.S. comeback, notably a midsize sport-utility vehicle called Atlas that's expected to come out next year and be priced starting at about $30,000.
Analysts said that despite the scandal, Volkswagen enjoys considerable customer loyalty. It will be interesting to see how many owners opt to have VW modify their current cars instead of choosing the buyback, and how many owners who choose the buyback option will then buy another VW car, the analysts said.
"A lot of consumers are going to be fairly brand loyal and give Volkswagen another shot," said Patrick Min, senior analyst at TrueCar.com. "A lot of these customers love the vehicle."
Jamie Caffrey, 35, said he bought his 2014 Volkswagen TDI Jetta Sportwagen two weeks before the emissions scandal became public knowledge. He was a second-time VW customer and previously owned a Volkswagen GTI.
When he found out about the problem, "I was really irritated," he said. "I'm still not happy about it."
Caffrey, a real estate investor who lives in the Hollywood Hills, said he initially planned to take the buyback but is now reconsidering. The buyback price takes the car's mileage into account, and he said he drives a lot.
"Obviously it would be nice to get the cash part of it, but if I have to go and buy a more expensive car … I'm not sure it makes sense," he said.
Caffrey said he would consider buying another VW. "Next week, there could be a scandal about any other carmaker," he said. "I'm just going to go and find whatever the best car is that's going to work for me."
On the other hand, Dan McCall, 53, said he definitely plans to sell his car back to VW.
"I just want to be done with the potential headache," he said. "I know they still haven't announced what the fix is going to be, so I just don't want to deal with that."
McCall, a risk manager for a bank who lives in Torrance, has a 2011 Jetta TDI and has replaced it with a Volvo S60. He said the emissions scandal was not the only reason he got a different car, but it was "probably the straw that broke the camel's back."
Would he buy a VW car again? "Absolutely not," he said. "I won't even look at an Audi product. I'm sure it wouldn't happen again, but this was pretty egregious, in my opinion, to go on for so long."
The major automakers report their U.S. sales monthly, and Matt DeLorenzo, managing editor for news at Kelley Blue Book, said the industry will closely watch Volkswagen's sales over the next nine months to determine whether customers are sticking with the automaker.
"If they replace their VW vehicle w ith another VW vehicle, the damage won't be as bad as initially thought," DeLorenzo said.
Even so, the Volkswagen scandal has "shaken not only the trust people had in VW but in automakers in general," he said.
Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Assn., which represents more than 1,300 franchised dealerships, including 66 VW dealers, said that California's vehicle market is "fiercely competitive" and that VW's inflated fuel-efficiency claims "really hurt the ability of customers to trust the VW brand and consequently, the dealers' ability to sell those cars."
The lack of a currently available fix has been a challenge for many of these dealers, he said.
The automaker reached three separate but related settlements that were approved Tuesday: the first with the U.S. Department of Justice[7], the California attorney general's office, the California Air Resources Board and the EPA; the second with the Federal Trade Commission[8]; and the third with owners. The agreements were developed in parallel.
The settlement "sets in motion a public process that will develop a range of projects to mitigate the harmful health effects of smog," Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the Californ ia Air Resources Board, said in a statement.
Elizabeth Cabraser, the court-appointed lead counsel for the VW consumer plaintiffs, said, "We are very pleased that the court has granted final approval to this historic settlement that holds Volkswagen accountable for its illegal behavior and breach of consumer trust."
She said in June that before customers choose to have their vehicles fixed instead of opting for the buyback, they will be notified with full disclosure of any potential effects on fuel efficiency and vehicle performance.
Late last month, Volkswagen agreed to pay its U.S. dealers[9] up to $1.2 billion to compensate them for losses su ffered as a result of the emissions cheating scandal.
The dealers are expected to receive about $1.85 million each, but they can choose to opt out of the deal and pursue their own lawsuits against Volkswagen. A judge still has to approve that settlement before it can go into effect.
Times staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.
ALSO
Uber's self-driving truck makes its first commercial delivery: beer[10]
Column: AT&T-Time Warner merger could be a blessing in disguise[11]
Need Halloween decorations or camping gear? L.A. startup Joymode wants to be the Uber of that[12]
UPDATES:
2:45 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from TrueCar.com's Patrick Min, vehicle owner Dan McCall, Kelley Blue Book's Matt DeLorenzo and the California New Car Dealers Assn.'s Brian Maas.
11:35 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Sierra Club's Kathryn Phillips and from vehicle owner Jamie Caffrey, as well as additional background informat ion.
10:30 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times staff reporting.
8:45 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the settlement and background information about last month's settlement with dealers.
This article was originally published at 8:20 a.m.
References
- ^ Volkswagen (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Volkswagen Emissions Scandal (www.latimes.com)
- ^ vwcourtsettlement.com (www.vwcourtsettlement.com)
- ^ on the court's website (www.cand.uscourts.gov)
- ^ Audi (www.latimes.co m)
- ^ Porsche (www.latimes.com)
- ^ U.S. Department of Justice (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Federal Trade Commission (www.latimes.com)
- ^ to pay its U.S. dealers (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Uber's self-driving truck makes its first commercial delivery: beer (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Column: AT&T-Time Warner merger could be a blessing in disguise (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Need Halloween decorations or camping gear? L.A. startup Joymode wants to be the Uber of that (www.latimes.com)
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar