VW Canada offers to pay consumers $2.1 billion over false diesel claims

TORONTO —Volkswagen has reached a tentative settlement for compensating Canadian owners of VW-made diesel vehicles caught in a global scandal over rigged emissions data.

The settlement could cost Volkswagen $2.1 billion if accepted by courts in Ontario and Quebec.

According to the federal competition watchdog, it would be one of the largest consumer settlements in Canadian history.

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The Competition Bureau says Volkswagen and its affiliate Audi Canada have also agreed to pay an additional $15 million for false or misleading marketing claims used to promote certain vehicles with 2.0-litre diesel engines.

The Canadian settlement doesn’t include vehicles with 3.0-litre diesel engines.

The proposed settlement — which covers certain models of Jetta, Golf, Passat and Beetle vehicles from VW and the Audi A3 — is separate from a deal between the German auto company and U.S. regulators.

The Canadian suit had alleged owners suffered from a decline in the resale value of their VW-made vehicles since the scandal came to light in September 2015.

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VW Canada stopped selling the diesel models about the same time its German parent acknowledged that the vehicles had been designed to adjust diesel emissions during testing to provide better results than under normal operations..

The Canadian suit has been handled by a consortium of law firms before a Ontario Superior Court judge in Toronto.

In the United States, a settlement agreement for U.S. consumers was approved on Oct. 25 by district court judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco.

Breyer had set Monday as a deadline for U.S. regulators and lawyers for car owners to provide an update on diesel vehicles that weren’t covered under the earlier settlement.