VW agrees to $232mln settlement

NEW YORK: Volkswagen AG has agreed to a settlement worth up to $232 million (C$290.5) with owners of vehicles in Canada affected by its diesel emissions-cheating scandal, the automaker said on Friday.

The agreement provides for cash payments to owners of about 20,000 3.0-liter Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche diesel vehicles in Canada and is subject to court approval. The German automaker also agreed to pay a $2.5 million Canadian dollar civil penalty.

"This is an important milestone towards making things right for all of our customers with affected diesel vehicles in Canada," Daniel Weissland, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group Canada, said in a statement. Last year, in a similar settlement in the United States, VW agreed to spend at least $1.22 billion to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 vehicles with 3.0-liter engines. It also agreed to pay owners of vehicles who obtained fixes for excess emissions between $8,500 and $17,000.In total, the German automaker has now agreed to spend more than $25 billion in North American to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, U.S. states and dealers and to make buyback offers.