VW's diesel-cheating settlement gets nod from US federal judge

San Francisco

VOLKSWAGEN AG's settlements to get 482,000 emissions-cheating diesel cars off US roads won a preliminary go-ahead from a federal judge, clearing a path for Germany's largest carmaker around the biggest obstacle to recovery from the scandal.

The plan for buybacks and a possible fix covers car owners, the US government and 44 states and will cost the company about US$15.3 billion if the agreements are fully adopted. That includes VW's US$603 million accord with the states that isn't part of the settlement before US District Court Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.