Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal was a U.S. emissions-cheating case built around software that let certain diesel cars pass laboratory tests while using less effective pollution controls during ordinary driving. The EPA and U.S. Department of Justice later pursued separate consumer, environmental, civil, and criminal resolutions; the often-quoted $14.7 billion figure was a settlement package, not a single fine.
What was Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal?
Volkswagen marketed certain diesel vehicles as “clean diesel,” but software in covered cars detected when they were undergoing emissions tests. The vehicles then used full emissions controls during the test and reduced their effectiveness during normal driving. As a result, they could pass laboratory testing while emitting nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at far higher levels on the road.
NOx pollution contributes to unhealthy air. The EPA said the covered 2.0-liter vehicles could emit up to 40 times the emissions standard during normal operation. For certain 3.0-liter vehicles, the agency said emissions could reach up to nine times the standard. Those are EPA figures for the vehicles and circumstances described in its violation notices, not measurements for every diesel car.
How did the defeat device work?
In its 2015 account, the EPA described software that recognized when a vehicle was being tested and activated full emissions controls only in that setting. Outside the test, those controls were reduced, producing a difference between laboratory results and on-road emissions.
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The DOJ’s 2017 account of the government’s case described a software refinement in 2014: vehicles began in “street mode” and switched to “dyno mode” when the software recognized a test. According to DOJ, steering-wheel-angle recognition improved that detection. Prosecutors said an update presented as addressing durability and emissions issues was used to deactivate controls more quickly outside testing. This detail reflects the government’s account of the case.
How regulators uncovered the issue
In March 2014, West Virginia University’s Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions published results from an International Council on Clean Transportation-commissioned study. The DOJ later cited the study’s finding of substantial discrepancies between on-road NOx emissions and results from standard laboratory drive-cycle tests.
On September 18, 2015, the EPA issued a Clean Air Act notice to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen Group of America concerning model-year 2009–2015 2.0-liter diesel cars. The agency said the vehicles used a defeat device and could emit up to 40 times the permitted pollution. That notice made the U.S. case public.
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The EPA issued a separate notice on November 2, 2015, concerning certain model-year 2014–2016 3.0-liter diesel cars and SUVs. Volkswagen officials later informed the agency that the defeat device had existed in all U.S. 3.0-liter diesel models since 2009. The 2014 study helped expose the real-world emissions discrepancy; the EPA’s notices formally set out the violations it alleged.
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The following is the EPA’s list of affected U.S. vehicles, grouped by engine size. Model years vary by model.
2.0-liter vehicles
| Brand | Model | Model years listed by EPA |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen | Jetta | 2009–2015 |
| Volkswagen | Jetta Sportwagen | 2009–2014 |
| Volkswagen | Beetle and Beetle Convertible | 2013–2015 |
| Volkswagen | Golf | 2010–2015 |
| Volkswagen | Golf Sportwagen | 2015 |
| Volkswagen | Passat | 2012–2015 |
| Audi | A3 | 2010–2015 |
3.0-liter vehicles
| Brand | Model | Model years listed by EPA |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen | Touareg | 2009–2016 |
| Porsche | Cayenne | 2013–2016 |
| Audi | A6 Quattro and A7 Quattro | 2014–2016 |
| Audi | A8 and A8L | 2014–2016 |
| Audi | Q5 | 2014–2016 |
| Audi | Q7 | 2009–2016 |
This is the EPA’s vehicle scope. The DOJ’s 2017 criminal-case announcement described approximately 590,000 affected U.S. diesel vehicles and included a related vehicle list with some differences in model-year or model detail. Those agency lists serve different purposes and should not be treated as identical.
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What did the consumer and environmental settlement cover?
On June 28, 2016, the EPA announced a 2.0-liter settlement package valued at up to $14.7 billion. The agency divided that figure into two main parts:
- Up to $10.03 billion for consumers: buybacks, lease terminations, emissions modifications, and compensation for owners and lessees of covered vehicles.
- $4.7 billion for environmental measures: pollution mitigation and investment in zero-emission vehicle technology.
The EPA said the consumer program covered nearly 500,000 U.S. model-year 2009–2015 2.0-liter vehicles. The settlement, formally entered and effective October 25, 2016, set an overall recall-rate target of at least 85 percent under its programs, with additional contributions to the mitigation trust required if the target was not met.
Remedies were not one universal software fix. EPA’s timeline records approvals by the EPA and the California Air Resources Board in 2017 and 2018 for modifications to specified 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter vehicles; the approved changes depended on the model and transmission. The settlement terms describe the program announced at that time, not current claim eligibility or the present availability of a particular remedy.
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What criminal and civil penalties did Volkswagen AG face?
On January 11, 2017, the DOJ announced that Volkswagen AG had agreed to plead guilty to three felony counts and pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty. The department also reported $1.5 billion in separate civil resolutions covering environmental, customs, and financial claims.
Those DOJ amounts were distinct from the EPA’s 2016 consumer and environmental settlement package. Adding the figures can obscure what each resolved: the consumer program addressed covered owners and lessees, the EPA package also funded pollution mitigation and green-vehicle investment, and the DOJ announcement covered criminal and civil resolutions. The DOJ described approximately 590,000 U.S. diesel vehicles in its criminal-case account.
What does Volkswagen’s later financial reporting say?
In its 2025 annual report, published in 2026, Volkswagen Group reported €0.1 billion in expenses recognized in connection with the diesel issue for fiscal 2025. The company said the issue was no longer disclosed separately as a special item. That is a company-reported accounting figure for one fiscal year, not a cumulative estimate of Dieselgate’s total cost or a measure of every remaining legal claim.
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Why the scandal mattered
Dieselgate exposed a basic weakness in relying on laboratory results alone: a vehicle’s test performance did not necessarily describe its emissions in ordinary driving. The U.S. response tied consumer remedies to environmental spending and pursued corporate criminal and civil resolutions through separate legal tracks.
When the EPA announced the 2016 settlement, then-Administrator Gina McCarthy said, “Today’s settlement restores clean air protections that Volkswagen so blatantly violated.” The quote captures the agency’s stated purpose; the settlement’s distinct consumer, environmental, and legal components show how broad the response was.
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