The German manufacturer Volkswagen agreed to pay about $ 15 billion in the US in the hope of resolving the dispute related to the scandal of his rigged engines, which reduced sales and dented its reputation.
Released Tuesday, the compromise negotiated for months in pain with US authorities must still be approved by the court but gives an initial idea of the amount of the invoice to be paid by the German auto giant .
“this partial compromise marks an important first step leading Volkswagen to account for what has been a breach of its legal obligations and public trust,” said one of the officials of the department US Justice (DoJ), Sally Yates, evoking the offenses “most egregious” to US environmental standards.
under the plan, which does not completely end the group’s legal hassles the United States, the owners of some 480,000 rigged cars in the United States will have the opportunity to redeem their vehicles or repair the expense of the German manufacturer.
in both cases, each of them will also receive cash payments of up to $ 10,000.
the value of the cars retained as part of the repurchase transaction will be the one dating back to last September, before this sensational scandal erupted in the United States through an NGO, before spreading to the rest of the world.
The bill of the compensation component will amount to a total of 10.033 billion dollars.
it will add $ 2.7 billion Volkswagen will pay for “full address” the impact of exhaust emissions of its cars in the United States.
Separately, the group reached an agreement for $ 603 million with 44 US states and the District of Columbia, which includes federal capital Washington, and Puerto Rico.
According to US authorities, rigged Volkswagen engines emit up to 40 times more polluting gases that the standards allowed.
“the compromise announced today restores protections for clean air that Volkswagen has violated so blatantly, “said the boss of the Federal agency of environmental protection Gina McCarthy, during a press conference.
The giant with 12 brands (Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche …) has also committed to contribute up to $ 2 billion a car promotion fund “green” zero emissions.
This compromise, one of the most important for a company after the $ 246 billion reached in 1998 by the tobacco industry and agree to over twenty billion BP after the oil spill 2010, must be subject to the approval of the US court on July 26, said a spokesman for VW
-. First step –
in a statement, German group is committed to meet its commitments and considered that this agreement marked an “important first step”.
“We know that we still have much work to do to regain the trust of the American public “however, the group recognized the boss Matthias Müller.
the analyst Jessica Caldwell nods and believes that VW” still has a long way to go to repair its reputation. “
the President of the Association of European consumers (BEUC), Monique Goyens, was her outrage that the German manufacturer “refuses to pay compensation in Europe and is willing to pay in the United States.” It therefore called on the authorities of the Old Continent to “protect consumers”.
Volkswagen’s legal troubles are not finished whatever happens in the US where the group is within the scope of a criminal investigation and has yet to meet the faking engines on about 100,000 vehicles three liters of displacement that are not included in the current compromise.
the group, which recognized rigging 11 million of diesel cars in the world, is also facing a cascade of lawsuits and surveys on the globe, especially in Europe.
the scandal has cost Volkswagen in 2015 its first net loss for over twenty years and has resulted in the fall of 20% of its sales business in the first quarter.
in 2015, the automaker posted a turnover of over 210 billion euros and spent huge reserves (16.2 billion euros) to deal with scandal .
VW remains neck and neck with Toyota instead of world number one in terms of sales.
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28 / 06/2016 9:08:12 p.m. – Washington, June 28, 2016 (AFP) – AFP © 2016
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