Volkswagen’s multi-billion-dollar make-nice deal with U.S. regulators and owners was given a tentative green light today, after a federal judge gave the settlement his preliminary approval.

The San Francisco hearing is the first of two, and approval of the $14.7 billion buyback and compensation plan could get a full go-ahead on August 25. The hearing shed light on what owners of defeat device-equipped diesels can expect in the coming months. (Read More…)

Volkswagen is toying with the idea of creating a hot, performance-oriented Passat variant that grabs people’s souls, assaults their eyes and won’t let go of their imagination. It shouldn’t bother.

According to Motor Authority, the automaker wants to wring more sales out of its increasingly overlooked midsizer by appealing to the enthusiast set. Even with visual cues and a power boost, it’s extremely unlikely that Golf fanboys will move their lust (and cash) to the Passat camp.

If Volkswagen wants to halt falling sales, it needs to change the foundation and house, not just paint the window trim. (Read More…)

Forget head-scratching model names like Tiguan and Touareg. For its new midsize crossover, Volkswagen scrapped its naming-by-German-committee tradition and turned the process over to its American division.

When the new models goes on sale next year, expect a rugged, easy-to-pronounce name designed solely for the U.S. market, Automotive News reports. That name could be “Teramont.” (Read More…)

It won’t come as a surprise that Volkswagen’s U.S. arm is eager to put all that happy-go-lucky “clean diesel” stuff behind it.

Once the diesel emissions scandal sinks from the headlines like the Deepwater Horizon, the automaker plans to head in a different direction stateside, Automotive News reports, and oil burners won’t be a big part of it. (Read More…)

Volkswagen diesel owners will be able to spend many happy, polluting miles on the road, even after they request a fix instead of a buyback.

Buried in the automaker’s $15.3 billion U.S. settlement is the expectation that most of the recalled vehicles will still spew twice the allowable rate of emissions after being repaired, according to Bloomberg. A fix for the 475,000 2.0-liter diesels hasn’t been approved, but regulators fully expect any repair plan to fail — and they’re grudgingly okay with it. (Read More…)

The state of New York wants its pound of flesh from Volkswagen, as well as $450 million.

A lawsuit filed against the automaker by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleges widespread knowledge of the emissions-cheating “defeat device” used in millions of diesel vehicles, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Read More…)

With no approved U.S. diesel fix in its grasp, Volkswagen hasn’t even bothered asking the Environmental Protection Agency for permission to resume selling its maligned TDI models, Automotive News reports.

Sales of all new and certified pre-owned TDIs were frozen last September after the diesel emissions scandal became public. Even after agreeing to a $15.3 billion U.S. settlement last month, it looks like the models will cool their heels for months to come. (Read More…)

After agreeing to fork over up to $14.7 billion to U.S. owners (and the environment) in its U.S. diesel emissions scandal settlement, Volkswagen is saying Nein! to a similar buyback in Europe, because that kind of payout would just be insane.

According to Left Lane News, the embattled automaker isn’t planning any compensation to its clients on the Continent, meaning its 2.0-liter TDI models will go on well into the future, albeit in a slightly detuned form. (Read More…)

A former Volkswagen employee who claimed he was fired when the company discovered his plan to report it for obstruction of justice has dropped his lawsuit.

Daniel Donovan, an information manager working for Volkswagen’s data center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, withdrew the suit on June 9, according to the New York Times. Donovan had claimed he tried to prevent the destruction of documents related to the diesel emissions scandal. (Read More…)

Good news, owners of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche models powered by a 3.0-liter TDI engine — your heavily polluting diesel probably won’t have to be bought back and scrapped.

A lawyer for the automaker said in court today that Volkswagen believes the 85,000 vehicles can be cleaned up with a not-too-complicated fix, Reuters reports. (Read More…)

It’s like the Rapture, but for polluting German vehicles.

Starting this fall, owners of the 466,000 defeat device-equipped Volkswagen and Audi 2.0-liter TDI models still left on the road will head to their dealer, hand over their keys, sign a mountain of paperwork, and walk away with a fat check issued by the bean counters in Wolfburg.

So, what happens to your once-trustworthy diesel-powered steed after the buyback? (Read More…)

Volkswagen is making sure everyone is getting the right message today, and that includes its American dealers.

Thanks to a tipster, TTAC has obtained a video sent by Volkswagen of America executive to its dealers.

(Read More…)

Imagine for a second that the cash Volkswagen must now spend to get itself out of trouble in the U.S. was a pile. It would be a great day for tobogganing.

The initial settlement for the diesel emissions scandal — vehicle buyback, compensation, make-the-air-nice-again programs — rings in at $14.7 billion, but the automaker has roughly $18 billion set aside to handle all of the American fallout.

When it comes to cash, the bigger the number, the harder it is to imagine what that figure really looks like. What could it buy? How many bananas is that? Well, there are countries that make less money in a year than Volkswagen, maker of the Jetta, just paid out to one country. (Keep in mind, there’s more countries waiting in the wings for their cash.) (Read More…)

Christmas is coming early for owners of polluting Volkswagen TDI models now that the automaker has agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to settle claims in the diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen’s settlement with the federal government, owners and regulators will see it buy back some 475,000 2.0-liter diesel vehicles in the U.S. at pre-scandal values and offer their owners up to a cool $10,000 in extra compensation, according to figures reported by the New York Times. (Read More…)

Owners of the 482,000 2.0-liter TDI models caught up in the diesel emissions scandal will get cash compensation tied to the age of their vehicle, anonymous sources said today.

Volkswagen won’t release details on its buyback/fix/remediation plan until Tuesday of next week, but sources briefed on the matter blabbed to the media despite a court-imposed gag order. The Associated Press puts the cost of settling the U.S. fallout at $10.2 billion, with some of that money going towards government penalties.

It’s already known that Volkswagen plans to buy back (or fix, at the owner’s request) 2.0-liter diesel models sold from 2009 on. What’s murky is whether the figures quoted by the sources relate to the vehicle buyback or the separate compensation expected to be handed to owners. (Read More…)