SAN FRANCISCO — An agreement will give consumers who bought nearly 600,000 Volkswagen vehicles rigged to cheat on emissions tests the option of having the automaker buy back the cars or fix them, a judge said Thursday.
Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer did not give details on how much car owners would be paid but said the deal between Volkswagen, the U.S. government and private lawyers would include “substantial compensation.”
The agreement will include a fund for corrective efforts over the excess pollution, and Volkswagen will be required to commit other money to promote green automotive technology, said Breyer, who has not formally signed off on the deal yet.
The judge did not reveal whether it included details on how the company planned to repair the vehicles.
but did not include plans on a vehicle fix in the agreement, a person briefed on the matter who asked not to be identified because the deal had not been made public said Wednesday. Those plans, and the cost of the fixes, apparently are still under negotiation.
With $1 billion to spend, it works out to about $1,700 per car. But some owners of newer models who get just a software fix might receive little. About 325,000 owners of older cars that require more extensive repairs likely will get more because the repairs could affect mileage and performance.
The vehicle owners and the U.S. Department of Justice sued the company after it acknowledged in September that it intentionally defeated emissions tests and put dirty vehicles on the road.
