AG: 6,638 Indiana residents eligible for VW compensation
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An estimated 6,638 Volkswagen customers in Indiana will be eligible for restitution payments and either having their vehicles bought back or modified to reduce emissions after the automaker settled allegations that it cheated on emissions tests, Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Tuesday.
Total restitution to Indiana customers could reach $66 million under a joint state-federal agreement with Volkswagen, he said.
The settlement covers 2-liter diesel engine models of the 2009-2015 Jetta and Audi A3, the 2010-2015 Golf, and the 2012-2015 Beetle and Passat.
"Volkswagen deceived customers by misrepresenting its diesel vehicles' emissions and advertising its cars as meeting 'green' and 'environmentally friendly' standards," Zoeller said in a news release. "People paid a premium for a benefit they simply did not receive."
The agreement also requires Volkswagen to pay nearly $570 million for violating state laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices when it marketed, sold and leased diesel vehicles equipped with software intended to circumvent air pollution emissions standards. Indiana's share will be $6.57 million.
Volkswagen has admitted that the 2-liter diesels were programmed to turn on emissions controls during government lab tests and turn them off while on the road. Investigators determined that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems in humans.
Under the agreement, Volkswagen must implement a restitution and recall program for more than 475,000 affected owners and lessees. Once a court approves the program, affected Volkswagen owners will receive a restitution payment of at least $5,100 and a choice between selling their vehicles back to Volkswagen at the National Automobile Dealers Association clean trade-in value before the scandal became public last Sept. 18 or a modification to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, assuming the automaker can develop a fix acceptable to regulators.