Volkswagen has been steadily working to meet the demands placed on them by the U.S. Court System. With settlements being reached over the last few months, the automaker has already fixed or bought back half of the 2.0L TDI powered cars that made up most of the recalled models, and now, it's been dealt 3 years of probation and oversight to ensure thorough practices. This comes in the addition to the $4.3 billion settlement reached earlier in January.
U.S. District Judge Sean Cox expressed his feelings about VW and Dieselgate as a whole, saying "This is a case of deliberate and massive fraud ...This is a very serious and very troubling case involving an iconic automobile company." Cox went on to state "I just can't believe VW is in the situation it finds itself in today."
Although Volkswagen has been under constant fire, executives have accepted full responsibility and cooperated completely with investigations and court decisions. General counsel Manfred Doess said the company "deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to this case. Plain and simple, it was wrong."
In March, the auto group pleaded guilty to fraud after admitting to installing emissions-cheating devices in over 580,000 vehicles. Collectively, the Dieselgate scandal has cost the company over $25 billion.
Volkswagen AG will be under the oversight of independent monitor U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal claimed the U.S. Court System "has a great deal of confidence that (Thompson) will ensure compliance with all the terms" of the plea agreement.
German officials are also conducting investigations covering VW's excessive pollution.