Volkswagen AG (VW) has reached a tentative deal with its US dealers to compensate them for losses they said they suffered as a result of the company’s emissions cheating scandal, attorneys for the carmaker and dealers told a federal judge on Thursday.
The value of the settlement with the roughly 650 dealers was not disclosed, although Volkswagen said in a statement later that it would include cash payments.
“We believe this agreement in principle with Volkswagen dealers is a very important step in our commitment to making things right for all our stakeholders in the United States,” Volkswagen North America chief executive Hinrich Woebcken said in the statement.
Details of the settlement were still under discussion. US District Court Judge Charles Breyer gave the attorneys until the end of next month to submit a final proposal. The deal would require Breyer’s approval.
Volkswagen previously reached an agreement with attorneys for car owners. That deal calls for it to spend up to US$10 billion buying back or repairing about 475,000 vehicles involved in the scandal and paying their owners an additional US$5,100 to US$10,000 each.
Details about the vehicle repairs have not been finalized.
The settlement also includes US$2.7 billion for unspecified environmental mitigation and an additional US$2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles.
Breyer gave the deal preliminary approval last month.
It does not cover about 85,000 more-powerful Volkswagens and Audis with 3-liter engines also caught up in the emissions scandal.
Volkswagen attorney Robert Giuffra said the company was prepared to submit a fix for some of those vehicles by early November that would bring them into compliance with clean energy laws.
Any fix proposed by Volkswagen would have to be approved by government regulators before it could be implemented.
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
RIDING THE WAVE: The race to build AI infrastructure has lifted the valuations of top memory makers, such as Micron, amid dwindling inventories and supply challenges Micron Technology Inc is to spend ￥1.5 trillion (US$9.6 billion) to build a plant in western Japan to make memory chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. The move comes as Micron seeks to diversify advanced chip production outside of Taiwan, the Nikkei article said, citing people familiar with the matter. The new factory will manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component for working with AI processors such as those made by Nvidia Corp, the report said. Micron would build the facility within the compound of its Hiroshima plant, starting in May next year, with plans to launch
RSS