VW Reaches $96.5 Million Agreement For MPG 'Misstatements'

The Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) has reached a proposed agreement for misstating the fuel economy ratings of 98,000 vehicles earlier this decade. The agreement will see VW paying people who purchased or leased some 2013-2017 model year vehicles from VW, Audi, Bentley and Porsche in the U.S. small sums of money for putting the wrong MPG ratings on some gasoline-powered vehicles. TechCrunch says that the affected models include the A8L, RS7 and S8 from Audi and variants of the Porsche Cayenne.

How small? Well, the total cost to VW will be around $96.5 million, but individual vehicle owners will be looking at getting between $5.40 and $24.30 for each month the vehicle is owned or leased. So, in the best case, you could get $291.60 a year if you are owed the highest amount for what VW is calling its “fuel economy restatement.” People who bought or leased an affected VW will, at some point, have to submit a claim to receive the compensation, but there’s no need to take any action at this time, VW says. The automaker will send out specific information about vehicle owner’s rights and options at some point if the Court grants preliminary approval to this proposed agreement.

If not all of the people who are owed money under the agreement come forward to claim their cash, VW will direct the leftover funds to remedy environmental damage, according to DW.com. DW also says that the software that generated the wrong fuel economy ratings (which was about one mile per gallon) was installed on around a million vehicles, but only 98,000 actually ended up with lower mileage than the number printed on the EPA stickers.

“Volkswagen is committed to providing customers with transparent fuel economy data for our vehicles, in line with U.S. labeling requirements,” said Pietro Zollino, executive vice president of communications for VWGoA, in a statement.

VWGoA says that it will also adjust downward the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) credits it gained under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rules “to account for any excess credits associated with the fuel economy discrepancy.” The adjustment still needs to be approved by the EPA. By settling through the agreement, VW does not admit any liability or wrongdoing.