WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld Volkswagen’s $10.03 billion settlement with the owners of nearly 500,000 polluting diesel vehicles announced in 2016.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said, in dismissing a number of objections to the settlement, that it “delivered tangible, substantial benefits to class members, seemingly the equivalent of — or superior to –those obtainable after successful litigation, and was arrived at after a momentous effort.”
In total, Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay more than $25 billion in the United States for claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. The buybacks will continue through the end of 2019.
The decision on Monday pertained to the settlement covering the owners and former owners of 475,000 polluting 2.0-liter vehicles. VW agreed to offer owners of the 2.0-liter vehicles between $5,100 and $10,000 in compensation, in addition to the estimated value of the vehicle.
Volkswagen declined to comment on the appeals court decision.
The German automaker admitted in September 2015 to secretly installing software in nearly 500,000 U.S. cars to cheat government exhaust emissions tests. The vehicles had emitted up to 40 times the legally allowable pollutants.
In May, federal prosecutors in Detroit unsealed criminal charges against former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn. Two other former VW employees have pleaded guilty in the investigation and are serving prison terms. In total, nine people have been charged in the United States.
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