U.S. judge grants preliminary approval to Volkswagen, Bosch settlements

A federal judge on Tuesday granted preliminary approval to a plan for Volkswagen AG to pay at least $1.22 billion to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 polluting 3.0-liter diesel vehicles in the United States over the German automaker's emissions-cheating scandal.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco also agreed at a court hearing to grant preliminary approval to German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH's separate settlement to pay $327.5 million to U.S. diesel VW owners.

Volkswagen, the best-selling automaker worldwide in 2016, could be forced to pay up to $4.04 billion if regulators do not approve fixes for all 3.0 liter luxury Porsche, Audi and VW diesel vehicles in the settlement. Breyer will hold a May 11 hearing on whether to grant final approval. read more »

Ultra-Rare, $4 Million Lamborghini Recalled

The dozen owners of Lamborghini Venenos -- an ultra-rare supercar that cost $4 million and up -- will be receiving some bad news via registered mail: their Italian dream machines are being recalled.

The 12-cylinder, 750-horsepower models that Automobili Lamborghini SpA billed as a “street-legal racing car” are among about 5,900 Aventadors the carmaker will recall worldwide over risks that a fuel system fault could lead to fires, the company said Tuesday.

Included in the recall are the only three Venenos hardtops sold, which carried a price of about $4 million (3 million euros), plus another nine Veneno Roadsters, originally listed at $4.5 million.

About 1,500 Aventadors, which start at around $400,000, also are affected by the recall in the U.S., according to a recall notice posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website Tuesday. read more »

Mazda recalls nearly 174,000 vehicles over faulty seats

Mazda is recalling about 174,000 of its small cars because of faulty seats that could cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle.

According to the auto manufacturer, the seats can change angles suddenly, making the vehicles hard to drive.

The recall covers the Mazda 2 subcompact from the 2011 model year and the 2010 and 2011 Mazda 3 and Mazdaspeed 3 compacts

The company says the seat height adjustment links can break or detach from the seat frame, changing the seat angle and increasing the risk of a crash. read more »