Volkswagen to pay $3.5 million for dieselgate settlement in this US state

The move comes after the US Supreme Court rejected the automaker’s bid to avoid lawsuits filed by officials in three states including Ohio in November 2021.

German automobile giant Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay $3.5 million as a settlement with Ohio over claims that the automaker violated state laws by manipulating vehicle computer software in its vehicles to mask carbon dioxide emissions, reports Reuters.

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The move comes after the US Supreme Court rejected the automaker’s bid to avoid lawsuits filed by officials in three states including Ohio in November 2021. The automaker argued that under the Clean Air Act, only the federal government can pursue emissions claims. Volkswagen also noted that it had already reached a settlement of more than $20 billion with the US EPA and affected VW vehicle owners.

However, in its statement on Friday, the automaker has said that this agreement fully resolves Ohio’s legacy claims and puts this matter behind the company as we focus on building a future of sustainable mobility. While Volkswagen has reached a settlement in Ohio, Texas and two counties in Utah and Florida still have pending lawsuits.

However, the settlement is a fraction of what Ohio had previously sought. Volkswagen reportedly said in prior court papers that Ohio’s claims could have totalled $350 million per day, or more than $127 billion per year, over a multi-year period.

Back in 2015, Volkswagen disclosed that it had used sophisticated software to evade emissions requirements in nearly 11 million vehicles around the world. It also misled the EPA, which started asking questions in 2014.

In addition to equipping its vehicles with emission cheating devices before they were sold, Volkswagen also installed software updates after the sale. The Volkswagen emission cheating software allowed the vehicle to be put into test mode which suspended normal driving operations and reduced emissions only during testing.

First Published Date: 23 Jan 2022, 09:55 AM IST