As VW Pleads Guilty in U. S. Over Diesel Scandal, Trouble Looms in Europe -
By JACK EWING and NEAL E. BOUDETTEMARCH 10, 2017
FRANKFURT — Volkswagen took a big step toward resolving its legal problems in the
United States when it pleaded guilty on Friday to its vast emissions deception.
The lawsuits are a potentially costly unknown, since there are far more diesel car owners in Europe than in the United States —
and they only add to Volkswagen’s ballooning legal bill, which has weighed on profits and shaken management ranks.
If it had to pay as much per car in Europe, where there are 8.5 million diesel Volkswagens with the
emissions software, the cost would be more than $300 billion — enough to destroy the company.
In the United States, criminal and civil fines, settlements with owners
and other costs have come to more than $22 billion for fewer than 600,000 vehicles.
Six executives have so far been charged in the United States, and one engineer has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud regulators and car owners.