VW to pay $1.6B to settle emissions cases in Canada

Volkswagen Group Canada has reached a deal to compensate about 105,000 Canadian owners of diesel vehicles affected by its emissions testing scandal. The settlement, which covers vehicles with 2-liter engines, could cost Volkswagen 2.1 billion Canadian dollars ($1.6 billion) if accepted by courts in Ontario and Quebec.

Volkswagen and Audi will have to pay 15 million Canadian dollars in a civil administrative monetary penalty to the federal competition watchdog agency.

Under the deal, owners will be able to sell their vehicles back to VW, trade them in for new vehicles or get them repaired. Canadians will be eligible to get between 5,100 Canadian dollars and 8,000 Canadian dollars in compensation, depending on the make and model of their vehicle.

The compensation deal could be one of the largest consumer settlements in Canadian history, according to Canada's Competition Bureau. The settlement must be approved by the court. Hearings will take place around the end of March 2017 in Toronto and in Montreal.

The Canadian settlement does not include vehicles with 3-liter diesel engines, the Competition Bureau said.

VW reached a deal earlier this year in a similar case over 475,000 cars with 2-liter engines. That agreement could cost VW $16.5 billion. Since admitting to emissions cheating in Sept. 2015, Europe's largest carmaker has been in talks with customers and governments over compensation and damages for the software, which was installed on 11 million cars worldwide.