US Federal Judge: Volkswagen has until March to fix its Dieselgate-affected cars

A US federal judge has given Volkswagen a one-month ultimatum to fix its Dieselgate-affected cars. The deadline requires the German automaker to present a plan to fix diesel engine cars that were secretly outfitted with pollution cheat devices.

Reuters reported that US District Judge Charles Breyer said he wants a definitive answer on the status of a fix by March 24. In September, Volkswagen admitted that its vehicles on US roads were using a software to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution. The judge who is based in San Francisco said that VW's time is running out.

Last month, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Europe's biggest automaker for up to $46 billion. The lawsuit claims that Volkswagen violated US environmental laws. Volkswagen and its Porsche and Audi brands continue to be blocked from selling any new 2016 diesel models in the US. Moreover, Volkswagen faces more than 500 lawsuits from American owners.

The federal judge's decision to set the deadline in March will affect 600,000 vehicles in the US and requires Volkswagen to submit an appropriate fix for the emissions cheating diesel-engine cars on American roads to US regulators. Meanwhile, Volkswagen has chosen a new CEO in the wake of the emission scandal. It has fired numerous staff members after launching an internal investigation, says Jalopnik.

As a result of the scandal, VW is in trouble of paying a huge settlement to the owners and the US government. According to Economic Times, owners of the vehicles claimed they have suffered losses on the car's value, realizing that they were discharging more pollution into the air. Reports say that $450 million is the estimated amount of damages to the health of Americans who suffered from extra toxic gases in their air.

"Six months is long enough" to determine if this is a fixable problem, Judge Breyer said. 

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us federal judge, Volkswagen, dieselgate affected cars, european cars, dieselgate scandal, volkswagen emission, us car pollution

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