Cost of VW settlement now at nearly $15 billion, report says


              FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013, file photo, the Volkswagen logo is seen on the grill of a Volkswagen on display in Pittsburgh. A person briefed on the matter said Thursday, June 23, 2016, Volkswagen has agreed to pay about $10.2 billion to settle claims in the U.S. from its emissions-cheating scandal. The money would go mainly to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013, file photo, the Volkswagen logo is seen on the grill of a Volkswagen on display in Pittsburgh. A person briefed on the matter said Thursday, June 23, 2016, Volkswagen has agreed to pay about $10.2 billion to settle claims in the U.S. from its emissions-cheating scandal. The money would go mainly to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
photo FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013, file photo, the Volkswagen logo is seen on the grill of a Volkswagen on display in Pittsburgh. A person briefed on the matter said Thursday, June 23, 2016, Volkswagen has agreed to pay about $10.2 billion to settle claims in the U.S. from its emissions-cheating scandal. The money would go mainly to compensate 482,000 owners of cars with 2-liter diesel engines that were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Volkswagen's settlement with nearly 500,000 U.S. diesel owners and government regulators over polluting vehicles is valued at nearly $15 billion, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The settlement, to be announced on Tuesday, includes just over $10 billion to offer buybacks to owners of polluting vehicles and nearly $5 billion in funds to offset excess diesel emissions and boost zero emission vehicles, the source said.

VW could pay owners of affected cars up to $7,000, according to reports last week.

The penalties are expected for violating U.S. clean air laws besides payments to the car owners. The environmental penalties take into account how much smog-forming gases the cars produced back to 2009 and how much they will create on the roads in the future.

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