The battle is not over for Volkswagen. Although the company has reached agreement with judge on emission scandal, but Department of Justice will continue criminal investigation on VW's misconduct. The company will also face similar investigation in other countries.
Reuters reported that US Department of Justice said its criminal investigation and multi-state probe into consumer and environmental violations will continue. The New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is among the the other agencies that lead the investigation.
VW has reached a preliminary agreement on Thursday to resolve claims from both regulators and customers for its rigged software to cheat emission test. Although agreement has been reached, but the issue is far from over. According to attorney who was appointed to lead litigation on behalf of plaintiffs Elizabeth Cabraser it will take time to cover details for vehicles covered by the deal.
"We have a ways to go, but we are now able to start on that way," ms. Cabraser said regarding the issues on notifying class members and filing formal court documents.
According to CNBC, it is also remain unclear whether consumers who filed the 600 class actions will ultimately accept Volkswagen's offer, or choose to keep litigating. However Volkswagen lawyer Robert Giuffra in Thursday's hearing expressed his satisfaction with the agreement, saying it represented an important step forward on the road to making things right.
In the agreement encompassed 480,000 Volkswagen can Audi A3 models with the affected 2-liter diesel engine. VW has agreed to fix the car for the consumers and providing their consumers with two options. Car owners will be able to choose either to let VW fix their cars or to sell them back to Volkswagen, and people who lease those cars can cancel their contracts without penalty.
However, as New York Times reported, US District Judge Charles Breyer indicated that the agreement has not covered about 100,000 cars with 3-liter diesel engines, including Audi and Porsche models. Therefore, there is still a long way for Volkswagen to settle.
"There is still a lot of work to be done," Judge Breyer said.
So far VW has installed its riged software in 11 million cars worldwide, and the company will have to face possible criminal charges from other countries, such as Britain, France, Germany and South Korea. The company expected the financial fines and consumer liabilities in the countries is not as high as United States.
Following the continuing legal battle which will cost the company billions of dollar, Volkswagen has delayed earning reports for the last two quarters. Therefore the company is unable to raise sufficient fund in the debt markets due to its incapability to provide requested financial information.
Volkswagen still has a lot to do to resolve its cheating software. Although it has reached agreement with judge on Thursday, but Department of Justice said criminal investigation on the company's misconduct is still ongoing. While the company will also face similar investigation in other countries.
