Volkswagen reaches US deal to buy back cars affected by emissions scandal

Senior district judge Charles Breyer said the payout would amount to "substantial compensation"

Judge Breyer had told VW to come up with a repair plan and a timeline for repair of the vehicles before Thursday or face trial (AFP)

Volkswagen has said that it will buy back some cars affected by the emissions scandal in a US deal agreed in San Francisco.

The deal also includes a fund to address the excess pollution caused by the scandal and an agreement to commit other money to green technology.

Senior district judge Charles Breyer did not say how much car owners would be paid for their cars but revealed that it would be "substantial compensation", according to AP.

The total amount VW have agreed to spend is reported to be around £1 billion.

The judgement in San Francisco comes after car owners and the US Department of Justice sued VW after it acknowledged last September that it installed vehicles with "defeat devices" that gave a false reading of emissions of noxious gases in test scenarios.

Some 11 million VW cars are thought to have been affected by the scandal worldwide.

Judge Breyer had told VW to come up with a repair plan and a timeline for repair of the vehicles before Thursday or face trial. It was unclear whether a timeline for repairing faulty vehicles had been agreed.

In a previous deal with EU regulators, VW said it was working to recall and refit affected vehicles in the UK. Almost 1.2 million VW vehicles are said to be affected in the UK.

The company has said it wil work with retailers to contact drivers in the UK.

In January, Elzbieta Bienkowska, the EU industry commissioner, wrote to VW bosses to make a case for EU VW owners to get compensation. VW rejected her demand.

“We are concentrating in Europe on the repair and service process,” the company said after a meeting between Matthias Müller, VW CEO, and Ms Bienkowska in Brussels.

“The situation in the US and Canada is not automatically comparable with other markets in the world. Therefore, this action [the compensation scheme] cannot simply be rolled out in other markets.”