大衆支付147億美元 作弊門在美達成和解

Volkswagen has agreed to pay nearly $15 billion to settle claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal in what would be one of the largest consumer class-action settlements ever in the United States.

大衆汽車(Volkswagen)同意爲其柴油機排放作弊醜聞支付近150億美元和解金。這將是有史以來美國最大規模的消費者集體訴訟和解方案之一。

The proposed settlement, valued at $14.7 billion and involving the federal government and lawyers representing the owners of about 475,000 Volkswagen vehicles, includes just over $10 billion to buy back affected cars at their pre-scandal values, and additional cash compensation for the owners, according to two people briefed on the settlement’s terms.

兩名知情人士透露，和解方案的總金額爲147億美元，涉及聯邦政府及代表約47.5萬大衆車主的律師，其中100億美元出頭的金額用來回購汽車並對車主提供額外現金補償，而回購價格以醜聞發生前的價值爲準。

The cash compensation offered to each car owner will range from $5,100 to $10,000, depending on their market value before Volkswagen’s public admission last September that its supposed “clean diesel” cars had been deliberately designed to cheat on air-quality tests.

補償給每個車主的現金從5100美元到1萬美元不等，取決於大衆去年9月公開承認作弊之前車輛的市場價值。涉事車輛本來應該是“清潔柴油”車，卻經過有意的設計在空氣質量測試中作弊。

Rather than sell their vehicles back to Volkswagen, car owners can also choose to have their vehicles fixed to meet emissions standards, although doing so would probably reduce the engines’ performance and gas mileage. And the methods for fixing the vehicles that Volkswagen has proposed are still subject to approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the federal parties to the case.

車主可以選擇退貨，也可以選擇返修，從而讓車輛達到排放標準，不過這樣做很可能會降低發動機的性能，增加油耗。大衆提出的車輛返修辦法仍然需要得到美國國家環境保護局(Environmental Protection Agency)的批准。環保局是這宗案件的聯邦當事方之一。

The settlement terms, first reported by Bloomberg News, are to be submitted on Tuesday to a federal judge in California whose final approval would be required for the deal to take effect.

彭博新聞社(Bloomberg News)率先報道了這項和解協議的條款。它將於本週二提交給加利福尼亞州的一位聯邦法官進行最終審覈，批准後方能生效。

Volkswagen would pay $2.7 billion into an E.P.A. fund, the two people said, to compensate for the environmental impact of its cars, which were fitted with software that enabled them to pass emissions tests but exceed legal pollution limits in on-the-road driving.

這兩名知情人士稱，大衆將向環保局的一個基金支付27億美元，以彌補這些汽車對環境造成的影響。車輛上裝有能讓它們通過排放測試的軟件，但在公路上行駛時，它們的污染排放卻會超過法律限值。

Volkswagen has also agreed to spend $2 billion on new cleaner-vehicle projects.

大衆還同意在更加清潔的汽車新項目上投入20億美元。

Despite the scope of the agreement, Volkswagen’s legal problems would be far from over.

儘管該協議範圍有限，但大衆的法律麻煩遠遠不止於此。

Volkswagen also faces a criminal inquiry by the Department of Justice, a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and an investigation by attorneys general in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company is also under investigation in a number of other countries, including Germany and South Korea.

大衆汽車還面臨着由司法部進行的一起刑事調查、聯邦貿易委員會(Federal Trade Commission)提起的一樁訴訟，以及42個州、哥倫比亞特區和波多黎各的司法部長進行的一項調查。德國和韓國等其他一些國家也在對該公司進行調查。

The German automaker acknowledged last year that it had installed illegal software in 11 million cars worldwide that made them capable of defeating pollution tests.

這家德國汽車生產商去年承認，它在全球1100萬輛車上安裝了非法軟件，以便它們能通過排放檢測。

During emissions testing, the cars’ pollution controls systems were turned on, curbing toxic emissions at the cost of engine performance. But those emissions controls were not fully engaged on the road, where its cars spewed nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times the levels allowed under the Clean Air Act.

在排放檢測中，車輛的污染控制系統會被打開，遏制發動機性能，削減有毒物質的排放。但是，在道路上行駛時，這種排放控制系統並不會充分啓動，汽車排放的氮氧化物會比《清潔空氣法》(Clean Air Act)要求的水平高至多40倍。

The proposed settlement requires a review by United States District Judge Charles R. Breyer in California and must go through a period of public comment, during which terms could yet change.

這份草擬的和解方案需要加州的聯邦地區法官查爾斯·R·佈雷耶(Charles R. Breyer)進行審覈，還必須經過一段公衆評議期。在此期間，條款仍有可能更改。

Affected Volkswagen owners are not bound by the settlement, and some may decide to press for better terms.

受影響的大衆車主不受這個方案的約束，其中一些車主可能會尋求更有利的條款。

The settlement does not include 3-liter Volkswagen diesel vehicles, which were fitted with another version of the cheating software.

該和解協議不涉及3升的大衆柴油車。它們裝有該作弊軟件的另一個版本。

Nor will the deal address terms for the owners of 85,000 Volkswagen and Porsche cars sold in the United States that had a different type of diesel engine but also had emissions problems.

這項交易也不涉及在美國銷售的另外8.5萬輛大衆與保時捷汽車。它們的柴油發動機類型不同，但也存在排放問題。