Progress Made Toward Settlement of VW Consumer Claims in U.S.A.

The U.S. MDL Court announced on April 21, 2016 that most parts of a settlement for U.S. consumers have been agreed with VW, giving each 2-litre VW car owner the option to either have the car bought back by VW or “modified” to make it emissions compliant at VW’s cost. Americans who lease their VWs may turn them back in. All consumers will also receive “substantial compensation”, the Judge said. The amount of compensation was not disclosed, although it was reported by the media this week to be $5000 (approximately EUR 4450) per consumer.

Additionally, the settlement includes 2 points relevant to the environmental issues: a fund for immediately fixing the environmental pollution will be set up and funded by VW, and VW will also commit additional money to promote green automotive technology in the future. 3-litre diesel cars, as well as fines and penalties that may have to be paid by VW in the U.S., have not yet been addressed. These issues, as well as details regarding the settlement, are to be worked on now and presented to the Court by June 21, 2016.

Because the settlement only covers consumers whose cars were bought or leased in the U.S.A., it, unfortunately, will not apply to most of the 11 million consumers affected (8.5 million of them in Europe).

Global Justice Network is committed to protecting the rights of all consumers, not just those located in the U.S., and will be working towards a fair settlement on behalf of duped diesel “defeat device” consumers in the rest of the world.