Volkswagen gets new deadline for deal with EPA

A federal judge has given Volkswagen four more weeks to hash out a deal with regulators to fix its diesel emissions problem with 600,000 vehicles.

At a Thursday hearing on hundreds of lawsuits against Volkswagen, Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco said Volkswagen has made “substantial progress” toward a resolution with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and with the consumers suing the company, but did not meet the soft deadline he had set for a final agreement.

{mosads}Volkswagen, the EPA and California regulators are trying to come to deal for the company to fix the vehicles that are on the road and that emit more pollutants than allowed under federal regulations. It’s likely to pay some penalties and take other actions as punishment.

Breyer gave the parties until April 21 to come to a solution, court records show. Without resolution, he may set a court date for as early as this summer.

“Volkswagen is committed to resolving the U.S. regulatory investigation into the diesel emissions matter as quickly as possible and to implementing a solution for affected vehicles, as we work to earn back the trust of our customers and dealers and the public,” Volkswagen said in a statement about the proceedings. “We continue to make progress and are cooperating fully with the efforts undertaken … to bring about a prompt and fair resolution of the U.S. civil litigation.”