Business
Influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports urged the
Justice Department to hike compensation to 475,000 owners of polluting
Volkswagen diesel vehicles and allow owners
who opt for a fix to reconsider.
In comments filed on Friday on the
proposed agreement, the magazine said the buyback offer undervalues retail
prices and urged the use of values that "would lead to buyback offers for
consumers that would be at least several hundred dollars higher."
Consumer Reports also wants owners who
opt for a fix to be able to change their mind and instead sell the car back to
Volkswagen because the car may perform differently once a fix is performed.
The public comment period for the
Volkswagen consent decrees ends on Friday. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer
granted preliminary approval on July 26 to the settlement, which includes the
largest-ever U.S. automotive buyback offer, and set an Oct. 18 hearing to grant
final approval.
Volkswagen agreed to spend up to $10.033
billion on the buyback for 2.0 liter vehicles that emit up to 40 times legally
allowable pollution. It has agreed to separate settlements worth $5.3 billion
to offset excess polluting, boost clean vehicles and compensate more than 40
U.S. states.
Volkswagen and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency did not immediately comment.
Consumer Reports said it generally
supported the settlement, but urged "regulators to wield robust oversight
of Volkswagen to ensure that the company implements its recall, investment, and
mitigation programs appropriately" and it called on "federal and
state officials to assess tough civil penalties and any appropriate criminal
penalties against the company in order to hold it fully accountable."
VW still faces fines for violating the
U.S. Clean Air Act and a potential consent decree that would subject it to
oversight by an independent monitor, and must resolve the fate of 85,000 3.0
liter polluting vehicles. It also faces new civil suits from New York, Maryland
and Massachusetts for violating state environmental laws as well as an ongoing
Justice Department criminal investigation.
Source by Reuters
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