(Reuters) - A lawyer for Volkswagen AG (DE:VOWG_p) told a federal judge on Thursday the German automaker is making progress in senior level settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency and California to reach a resolution over excess emissions in nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.
Lawyer Robert Giuffra told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer at a court hearing in San Francisco the automaker is making "good progress" in trying to reach a settlement after it admitted to using software to emit up to 40 times legally allowable emissions in vehicles sold since 2009.
Giuffra told the court VW may have more to say in about a month, but declined to offer specifics of the talks, or of any proposals on the table.
Breyer said he wants a definite answer by March 24 from VW and the Environmental Protection Administration on whether the sides have found an acceptable fix for the vehicles.