Mercedes-Benz’ parent company Daimler is ready to settle up with the US government over its diesel cheating scandal.

It’s been a long time coming, but according to an announcement made on Thursday, German automaker Daimler has reached a settlement with the US government over its involvement in a diesel emissions cheating scandal.

The settlement will cost Daimler approximately US$3 billion, with US$1.5 billion going to the government, another US$700 million going to customers and another “mid-three-digit-million EUR (euro)” amount to adequately fulfill the requirements of the settlements.

That is a lot of cash and understandably it is expected to have a sizable impact on the company’s finances. Daimler predicts that it will continue to affect its free cash flow for the next three years, which is a big deal considering the size of the company.

Of course, even though US$3 billion is a lot of money to anyone, it pales in comparison to the US$25 billion settlement that Volkswagen agreed to for its much more significant role in the diesel cheating scandal known as Dieselgate. When you consider that Daimler’s violation affected some 250,000 cars, it got off pretty light. Volkswagen’s indiscretion was just over twice the number of vehicles as Daimler’s, but it had a much steeper fine.

Daimler didn’t immediately respond to Roadshow’s request for further comment.  https://www.cnet.com