VW will reportedly pay you $5,000 to settle its emissions scandal
Volkswagen is believed to have reached a deal with US officials to avoid a court case.
If you were burned by Volkswagen's emissions cheating and don't think that $1,000 in credits and gift cards will cut it, we have good news for you... maybe. Die Welt sources understand that VW has reached a settlement deal with US officials that will have it pay affected diesel car owners $5,000 each to make up for misleading the public on the eco-friendliness of its vehicles. That's on top of what VW will have to pay to fix the cars in question. Provided the automaker gets the deal approved on April 21st (the deadline a court gave to agree on a fix), it'll avoid a trial that could easily have proven more costly.
VW tells us that it isn't commenting on the report at this time, so nothing has been confirmed just yet. If true, though, it'll represent one of the most expensive settlements in recent memory. Even if it covers only the half-million vehicles from the original recall, back-of-the-napkin math suggests that VW could pay $2.5 billion in the US alone. Combine that with complaints elsewhere in the world and the transportation giant is bound to regret ever playing fast and loose with emissions figures.
