Volkswagen closing in on ‘final’ US fines settlement

Volkswagen could reach a “final” settlement with US authorities as early as October over its large-engine diesel cars found to have cheated emissions tests in a global scandal, the sales chief of its premium Audi brand said.

Dietmar Voggenreiter, head of sales and marketing worldwide for Audi, told Reuters that negotiations related to 3-litre engine VW and Audi cars were progressing well.

“[We’re] in really good discussions with US authorities,” said Mr Voggenreiter. “Hopefully in October, latest the beginning of November, we will have the final agreement with the US.”

The diesel emissions scandal, affecting roughly 11m vehicles worldwide, continues to drag on VW and Audi profits, with Audi set to miss profitability targets this year and the core VW brand recording a 12% year-on-year drop in profit in the second quarter.

VW last September admitted using sophisticated secret software in cars to cheat on exhaust emissions tests.

The firm agreed with US authorities in June to pay up to $15.3bn (€13.7bn) for car buybacks and fixes to 475,000 2.0-litre VW and Audi diesel vehicles fitted with the emissions-cheating software.

That accord did not include fixes for around 80,000 VW, Audi and Porsche 3-litre engine cars that could potentially cost billions more if the automaker needs to buy them back.

Mr Voggenreiter said yesterday the US negotiations, which related to four-cylinder VW diesel cars and 3-litre V6 engine Audi vehicles, were still ongoing and unresolved.