Germany's Bosch to pay $131 million to settle U.S. diesel emissions claims

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH [ROBG.UL] will pay around $131 million to settle claims from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV U.S. diesel owners and resolve all investigations by 47 U.S. state attorneys general into its involvement with diesel vehicles.

Bosch and its U.S. unit must pay $98.7 million to 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and Guam, and $27.5 million to 104,000 Fiat Chrysler diesel owners.

Bosch is also making a $5 million payment to a state attorneys general group.

Bosch said in a statement that it neither accepts liability nor admits to any allegations but agreed to the settlement with the states to "avoids lengthy and costly proceedings."

Bosch must "refuse to accommodate requests for software development and programming that could result in the installation of defeat device software," the New York Attorney General's Office said as part of the settlement.

The supplier "enabled" the cheating and should have known its customers would use the software improperly, the office added.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Phil Berlowitz)