Volkswagen agrees to Australian settlement over diesel cheating

Volkswagen said on Monday it had agreed to pay up to A$127 million ($87.3 million) to settle lawsuits brought on behalf of thousands of Australian customers caught up in its global diesel emissions cheating scandal.

The German automaker said it would pay about A$1,400 each to owners of affected Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda EA189 diesel vehicles who opted into the lawsuit.

“This is a significant step toward fully resolving the diesel lawsuits in Australia,” a Sydney-based Volkswagen spokesman said in an emailed statement.

As part of the settlement, which was agreed on a “no-admissions basis”, Volkswagen will pay the legal costs of the claimants who filed several class-action lawsuits.

“This is an important step in providing a measure of justice and redress to the thousands of Australian motorists who claim they were financially impacted by the diesel emissions issue,” principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, Julian Schimmel said.