Volkswagen Will Reportedly Pay Owners Of Cheating Diesel Cars

A 2013 Volkswagen Passat with a diesel engine is evaluated at the California Air Resources Board emissions test lab.

Nick Ut / AP

Volkswagen has reportedly reached a settlement with the U.S. government over charges that it fitted its diesel vehicles with software to cheat federal emissions standards.

The Associated Press reported that the company would spend just over $1 billion to compensate U.S. owners of the vehicles. German newspaper Die Welt reported each owner of an affected diesel car would be paid $5,000. According to the AP, negotiations about fixing the cars are ongoing.

Markus Schreiber / AP

Earlier this week, lawyers for thousands of U.S. owners asked a federal judge in San Francisco to order a settlement if Volkswagen couldn't agree to a fix by Thursday.

Diesel models of VW cars, as well as some Audi and Porsche models, were last year found to have software installed that would kick in during emissions tests to pass U.S. standards. The software would then kick off during normal use, leaving some cars spewing out more than nine times the legal amount of nitrogen oxide.

In an internal review, Volkswagen found that around 800,000 vehicles had "unexplained inconsistencies" in carbon dioxide emissions. The EPA said in January it estimated 600,000 unlawfully polluting vehicles had been brought into the U.S. as it filed legal action against the company.

LINK: Volkswagen Says 800,000 Vehicles Have “Unexplained” Emissions Problems