DETROIT—Volkswagen pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and obstruction of justice and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion (U.S.) penalty for a brazen scheme to program nearly 600,000 vehicles to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. The criminal and civil penalty, if approved by a federal judge, would be the largest ever levied by the U.S. government against an automaker. VW’s total cost of the scandal now has been pegged at about $21 billion, including a pledge to repair or buy back vehicles. U.S. regulators confronted VW about the software after West Virginia University researchers discovered differences in testing and real-world emissions of harmful nitrogen oxide. Summing up the scandal, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Neal said it was a “calculated offence,” not a “momentary lapse of judgment.”

Source: thestar March 10, 2017 19:53 UTC