11:58 am, April 21, 2016
IN a deal agreed with US regulators, it has been reported that German carmaker Volkswagen will offer to buy back 500,000 of the diesel cars affected by the emissions scandal.
According to the AP news agency, the manufacturer may also end up dishing out £700m in compensation to owners of the affected vehicles, after ‘cheat’ devices were found in approximately 600,000 diesel vehicles last year.
In March 2016, US District Judge Charles Breyer gave the carmaker until Thursday 21 (today) to announce a ‘concrete proposal’ to take the affected vehicles off the road.
Breyer highlighted that this could be a buyback scheme or a repair plan to keep the cars running.
Matthias Mueller, Volkswagen chief, said that the deal with the US authorities could be more costly than expected, warning that the £5.2bn already set aside possibly wouldn’t be enough to resolve civil claims and lawsuits.
Volkswagen is expected to reveal the terms of the deal later today.
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