Settlement With Volkswagen on Emissions Nets Illinois $3.6M

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Illinois officials have agreed to a $3.6 million settlement in a lawsuit against Volkswagen Group of America for tampering with vehicle emissions controls.

The agreement reached late last week requires Volkswagen to pay $300 for each of the nearly 12,000 affected vehicles in Illinois.

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The case was a separate action by the Illinois attorney general's office after Volkswagen signed a consent decree with the Justice Department in October 2016. Volkswagen had admitted a year earlier that it had installed elaborate software in diesel car models which suspended pollution controls except when the vehicles underwent emissions testing.

Illinois was awarded $108 million in that settlement.

The attorney general lawsuit in November 2016 alleged that Volkswagen had implemented a recall on 11,974 Illinois vehicles in 2014 for the purpose of enhancing the fraudulent emissions-control devices.

The $300-per-car agreement brings the total award to $3.592 million, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced.

Automobiles that were affected have 2.0-liter or 3.0-liter Volkswagen or Audi engines.

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