Volkswagen Accepts Charges for Dieselgate, Could End Up Paying $25 Billion.
The eye watering settlement could put an end to the automaker’s woes.
Volkswagen may have finally found a way to conclude their recent years affected by the Dieselgate scandal; rather, the U.S. Court System did it for them. The company has agreed to plea guilty for three felony charges including obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit fraud, taking on a potential fee of $25 billion, according to Reuters. This comes after the manufacturer already agreed to pay $4.3 billion in January.
They must still offer to buy back nearly half a million of their products that used emission cheating software while offering to repair most of the remaining models. A majority of this number includes the 2.0L TDI found in various VW models as well as 83,000 vehicles equipped with the 3.0L TDI V6. Collectively, Volkswagen installed this software in nearly 580,000 American cars alone.
Seven VW executives were also charged with crimes, ultimately leading to their termination. One of these bosses includes Oliver Schmidt who is still in custody. Schmidt was the head of VW's regulatory compliance department. Volkswagen engineer James Robert Liang could also face five years of imprisonment as well as $250,000 in fines.
“Volkswagen today is not the same company it was 18 months ago — the change process under way is the biggest in our history,” the automaker said in a statement. “We have taken significant steps to strengthen accountability, increase transparency and transform our corporate culture.”
District Judge Sean Cox reportedly accepted VW's pleas, though he pushed sentencing back to April.
Since they've been pressed with these charges, VW has halted sales of all diesel powered cars in the U.S. They were one of leading sellers of diesel vehicles in America, putting a real dent in their market share. Volkswagen has since pushed the development of electric concepts to avoid any of these issues in the future.
