VW, Robert Bosch agree to pay $1.6 billion to settle U.S. diesel claims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay at least $1.26 billion to fix or buy back and compensate owners of about 80,000 polluting 3.0 liter diesel-engined vehicles -- and could be forced to pay more than $4 billion if regulators don't approve fixes for all vehicles, court documents filed late Tuesday showed.

In December, VW said it had agreed to buy back 20,000 vehicles and expected to fix another 60,000. The settlement documents show that if regulators do not approve a fix for all of the vehicles, the German automaker's costs could jump.

The settlement shows owners of 3.0 liter vehicles who opt for fixes will get compensation of between $7,000 and $16,000 from Volkswagen -- and the automaker will pay another $500 if the fix impacts a vehicle's performance. Owners who opt for a buyback will get $7,500 on top of the value of the vehicle.

Separately, German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH has agreed to pay $327.5 million to compensate owners of polluting U.S. vehicles.

VW previously agreed to spend up to $10.03 billion to buy back up to 475,000 polluting 2.0 liter vehicles after it admitted it installed secret software to evade emissions controls.

Under the agreement, Bosch will pay $163.3 million to address 2.0 liter vehicle claims, with most owners getting $350 each, while 3.0 liter owners will split $113.3 million. Most 3.0 liter owners will receive $1,500 from Bosch.

A federal judge in San Francisco will hold a hearing to approve the settlements on Feb. 14.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jason Neely)