The US District Court of Northern California [official website] gave final approval on Thursday for Volkswagen’s [corporate website] settlement [text] related to cheating on the emissions of their 3.0-liter vehicles sold in the US. The settlement [Reuters report] requires Volkswagen to pay at least $1.22 billion to buy back or fix 80,000 3.0-liter vehicles. Owners of the vehicles will receive between $7,000 and $16,000 from Volkswagen to fix the cars if the emissions remedies are approved. If regulators do not approve the fixes, Volkswagen could end up paying up to $4.04 billion. The amount of compensation the owners receive will be based on the year and model of their car. In total, Volkswagen must pay up to $25 billion related to the vehicles sold in the US. The final settlement related to the 2.0-liter vehicles was approved [settlement] in late April.

The Volkswagen scandal began in September 2015 when it was leaked that Volkswagen had intentionally circumvented emissions tests through installing technology to determine when emissions testing would take place and alter the cars emissions during inspections. The company has since undergone litigation in a number of countries throughout the world. In April, a German court upheld [JURIST report] the seizure of evidence against Volkswagen obtained during a raid of the law firm Jones Day. In December, South Korea announced [JURIST report] plans to fine the company for false advertising. In October, a Spanish court ordered [JURIST report] Volkswagen to pay a car owner €5,006 for the 10% decrease in the car’s value due to the emissions cheating.