Volkswagen is close to a deal to pay $2 billion to settle a US criminal investigation into the emissions-cheating scandal involving its diesel cars, the New York Times reported Friday. A settlement between the US Department of Justice and the German auto giant could come as early as next week, the newspaper said, citing three people who were not identified.

VW told AFP it was continuing to cooperate with US authorities to resolve the case. Volkswagen admitted last year it had installed software on as many as 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide to circumvent tests for emissions while enabling them to release up to 40 times the permitted amounts of nitrogen oxides during actual driving.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017