Consumers wooed despite VW woes
Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay at least $1.26 billion to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 polluting vehicles - and could be forced to pay up to $4.04 billion more, But, as Laura Frykberg reports, the emissions scandal hasn't stopped them overtaking Toyota as the world's top auto maker.
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For owners of Volkswagen diesel vehicles in the U.S. Compensation could finally be coming. The German carmaker has offered to fix or buy back tens of thousands of them. At a price of anywhere from about 1.2 to over 4 billion dollars. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WILSON KING INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, HEAD OF RESEARCH, RICHARD HUNTER, SAYING: "Certainly in terms of the amount of the fine this is a fairly small number that we have heard about today." In total - the U.S. bill for dieselgate could be up to 25 billion. That includes fines to owners, regulators, entire states and dealers. Such scandals might ordinarily exhaust a company's reputation. Not so for Volkswagen - in 2016 it sold more vehicles than any of its rivals. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WILSON KING INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, HEAD OF RESEARCH, RICHARD HUNTER, SAYING: "Despite all the difficulties, it's regained its spot as the top automaker, again driven by a particular demand in China." But then there's Europe. Lawsuits in Germany - one of which is a criminal case against former CEO Martin Winterkorn - are gaining momentum . VW may have made record sales last year but its legal bill is accelerating too.