1ST LEAD VW, US reach settlement in emissions case By dpa correspondents

San Francisco (dpa) - Volkswagen and US officials have reached a compromise on a settlement in negotiations to compensate US owners of diesel cars equipped with software designed to cheat emissions testing.The parties were presenting the details of the agreement - which include VW buying back the affected cars and the payment of substantial damages - to judge Charles Breyer at a hearing San Francisco.Shares in Volkswagen jumped in early trading on Thursday following media reports that the embattled German carmaker had reached a deal to compensate US owners of the affected cars.Breyer is hearing hundreds of lawsuits against VW from across the country after the carmaker admitted last September that many of its cars had been modified to cheat emission tests.The agreement met the Thursday deadline Breyer set for VW and US authorities to agree on a plan to modify about 580,000 vehicles sold in the US.The reported deal earlier sent VW shares 6.1-per-cent higher to 128.25 euros (145 dollars) in early trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.VW‘s powerful six-member management committee was due to meet on Thursday, with the US settlement on their agenda, along with a possible plan to end a dispute over the payment of bonuses for the company‘s top executives.Based in the northern German city of Wolfsburg, VW is facing the mounting costs of lawsuits, official investigations, recalls and vehicle modifications, as well as a fall in sales around the world in the wake of the revelations about the diesel emissions affair.VW indicated in November that it is planning cuts in its workforce, after having announced moves to cap 2016 investment spending at 12 billion euros - a cut of 1 billion euros from recent years.Next week the company will formally unveil its 2015 annual results, which are likely to reveal the impact of the emissions crisis on the carmaker‘s earnings.