US: Volkswagen goes to checkout and pay $ 14.7 billion – The Point

The German manufacturer Volkswagen agreed to pay nearly $ 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 juggernaut.

“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 US Department of Justice, Sally Yates, referring one of the violations “most egregious” of US environmental standards.

under the plan that does not completely abrogate the legal hassle of the group in the United States, the owners of some 480 000 rigged cars America will have the opportunity to redeem their vehicles or have them repaired at the expense of the German manufacturer. In both cases, each of them will also receive cash payments of up to $ 10 000.

40 times more polluting gases that the standards allowed

the value of the cars retained as part of the repurchase transaction will be the one dating back to last September, before this major scandal erupted in the United States through an NGO before spreading to the rest of the world. The invoice of compensation component will amount to a total of 10.033 billion dollars, according to the compromise. This will be supplemented by $ 2.7 billion Volkswagen will pay for “full address” the impact of exhaust emissions of its cars in the United States.

According to US authorities, fixing engines Volkswagen 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 for 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 to a fund promoting “green” cars with zero emissions . This compromise must be subject to the approval of the US court on July 26, said a VW spokesman in the United States.

“Regaining the confidence of the American public”

in a statement, the 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, recognized the group’s boss, Matthias Müller, said in the statement.

The legal troubles of Volkswagen are, whatever happens, not finished in the US, where the group is within the scope of a criminal investigation and has yet to meet the faking engines about 100 000 vehicles 3 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 investigations on the globe, particularly 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 turnover in the first quarter. In 2015, the automaker posted a turnover of over 210 billion euros and spent colossal reserves (16.2 billion euros) to deal with the financial consequences of the scandal diesel. German juggernaut remains neck and neck with Toyota instead of world number one in terms of sales. This duo is followed closely by General Motors.