Volkswagen hires Kenneth Feinberg to handle diesel cases

The letter argues EVs would significantly offset diesel emissions and California should require VW to invest in manufacturing in the state. It’s part of an ongoing effort by VW to overhaul what analysts see as a dysfunctional corporate culture.

Volkswagen will set up a fund to compensate owners of its diesel cars that cheat on emission tests, and it tapped Kenneth Feinberg to decide how much each should receive.

The claims program won’t stop the lawsuits, said plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Berman, who filed the first such suit in September.

Volkswagen has admitted that it illegally installed software on its diesel cars that allowed them to pass USA emissions tests even though the vehicles were dumping up to 40 times the allowed level of some pollutants when driven.

Feinberg also handled compensation for victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, the Boston Marathon bombing, the BP Gulf oil spill, and helped General Motors in their recent compensation for faulty ignition switches.

He said he hoped to have a program in place soon after getting input from vehicle owners, their lawyers and others.

“His extensive experience in handling such complex matters will help to guide us as we move forward to make things right with our customers”, said Michael Horn, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America, in the statement.

Feinberg has become the go-to expert for high-profile settlement cases. But Feinberg said as in the case of the GM compensation fund, the VW fund he will administer will be separate from any lawsuit or court proceeding. Ms. Biros declined to discuss possible terms of the Volkswagen compensation program. The program covers about 500,000 private vehicle owners. The consumers are seeking returns of premiums paid for the vehicles, compensation for diminished value and possible return of purchase price, minus depreciation.

Within hours of the EPA announcement, lawyers began filing suits as class actions on behalf of all USA vehicle owners alleging violations of state consumer laws.

Volkswagen has submitted plans to fix the four-cylinder cars to the EPA and CARB, which are evaluating them. The company has said it is cooperating with the probes.

Volkswagen submitted its recall plan for the diesel vehicles to California regulators and federal counterparts on November 20.

The company has not yet detailed its proposed remedy for US-market vehicles.