CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has finalized a $550,000 settlement with German engineering corporation Robert Bosch, closing out more than $3.2 million in settlements related to the 2015 Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal.
Morrisey's office received the payment earlier this month. He had alleged Bosch helped skirt West Virginia’s consumer protection laws as Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi used Bosch’s technology to cheat government emissions tests.
The scheme led to false advertising as the carmakers’ self-described “clean diesel” engines actually emitted up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, a reality first discovered by researchers at West Virginia University.
“Our settlement closes the books on a massive cheating scandal,” Morrisey said. “It also demonstrates how every company involved in a scheme to deceive consumers must be held accountable – even corporations whose actions help the primary wrongdoer.”
The automakers admitted to using Bosch-designed defeat devices to cheat emissions tests for 2.0- and 3.0-liter TDI diesel engines. The devices enabled vehicles to detect test scenarios and reduce emissions accordingly.
The technology yielded high marks for fuel economy and environmental consciousness, while subsequent research would prove a much different story.
The automakers agreed to pay the state $2,654,200 in spring 2018.
Bosch, which denied any wrongdoing, paid the state $550,000 and implemented enhanced compliance policies and procedures related to its Powertrain Solutions Division. That includes a prohibition on the development or calibration of defeat devices.
Morrisey's office unilaterally sued Bosch and the automakers in August 2016 – an expansion of the office’s initial lawsuit against Volkswagen in October 2015.
The AG's office handled the litigation within and chose not to participate in a multistate settlement. The office says those moves saved the state more than a half million dollars in legal fees and helped it receive much more than it would have as part of the broader settlement.
That means no portion of the more than $3.2 million in combined settlements will be diverted to reimburse outside law firms.
West Virginia’s settlements have no impact on other settlements, including class-action compensation for consumers and agreed upon remedies for state and federal environmental concerns.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 15-C-1833
