VW’s U.S. Diesel Settlement Delayed One Week

Volkswagen AG and U.S. regulators have been given another extension—this one for one week to June 28—to finalize a proposed settlement involving 482,000 diesel-powered vehicles the company rigged to cheat on emission tests.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco cites the technical nature of the deal. He says he granted the extension at the request of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who has been mediating the negotiations, Reuters reports.

Once the proposal is accepted, it will undergo a public review and could receive Breyer’s final approval at a hearing scheduled for July 26.

In April Breyer said the agreement will include repairs, compensation for affected owners, remediation payments for the pollution emitted by the cars and an option to buy back rather than fix vehicles equipped with the rigged diesels.

The settlement covers 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder diesels used in Audi and VW brand vehicles. The deal is not expected to resolve a separate claim by regulators that VW also manipulated engine emissions in about 80,000 V-6 diesels used in certain Audi, Porsche and VW models.

Reuters’ sources say the impending settlement also won’t determine how much VW will pay in regulatory fines for violating the U.S. Clean Air Act., which theoretically could total as much as $18 billion (€16 billion). VW has set aside €16.2 billion to cover fines, recall repairs and vehicle buybacks.