UPDATE: VW Announces $15.3 Billion Settlement on U.S. Diesel Scandal

Volkswagen AG has confirmed a $15.3 billion agreement to resolve fines and lawsuits involving about 475,000 vehicles sold in the U.S. with 2.0-liter 4-cylinder diesels that were rigged to evade emission standards for nitrogen oxides.

In April the company said it had set aside €16.2 billion ($17.9 billion) to pay for fines, lawsuits and consumer restitution plans worldwide regarding 11 million diesels it had manipulated to cheat pollution tests. A program to update 8.5 million such vehicles in Europe, where NOx standards aren’t as strict, is already underway.

The U.S. settlement will take effect after it wins preliminary approval by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer at a hearing set for July 26. VW says final approval could come this autumn, thereby enabling the company to begin the program.

Under terms of the deal, VW will spend as much as $10 billion to buy back or repair 460,000 VW and 15,000 Audi affected vehicles. The company also will create a $2.7 billion environmental remediation trust fund and allocate an additional $2.0 billion over the next 10 years on initiatives that promote zero-emission vehicles in the U.S.

In addition, VW will pay about $603 million to settle consumer protection claims brought by attorneys general in 44 states, the district of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Those claims say VW falsely claimed the cheater diesels were especially efficient and environmentally friendly.

VW must coax 85% of the targeted diesels either off the road or repaired by June 2019 to avoid additional fines. The company will pay owners between $5,100 and $10,000 each for choosing either option.

The agreement resolves an assortment of consumer lawsuits that were consolidated in Breyer’s San Francisco court. It also settles environmental fines and claims of wrongdoing by the California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dept. of Justice and Federal Trade Commission.

The company says it is continuing to find resolution to similar issues related to an estimated 80,000 vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter V-6 diesels that regulators were equipped with software to defeat emission control devices.