That doesn’t mean others won’t try to capitalize. That is why instead of merging Volkswagen with its country of origin, people will tend to contrast them and consider VW’s deeds antithetical to Germany’s image as a green country full of law-abiding citizens.
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Buerkl said that the indicator is still at a very good level, and it can be assumed that consumption will continue to be an important pillar of the economy this year overall considering the extremely positive development of the retail sector.
“I think that the idea that Germany is a friend to the environment firstly, and secondly, the idea that Germans make the rules and don’t break the rules, are two of the top 50 articles of faith of humanity”, he said.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen disclosed that as many as 11 million cars contained software alleged to have duped emissions tests and were possibly subject to a global recall.
Meanwhile, law firm Sutts, Strosberg LLP, based in Windsor, Canada, was reported in local media to have filed a class action lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages and $100 million in punitive damages. The probe started after Volkswagen alerted prosecutors to possible wrongdoing. The Ifo index is a monthly survey of some 7,000 companies that are asked for their assessment of the current economic situation and their outlook for the coming months.
Australia’s competition regulator said on Friday it was looking into whether Volkswagen had misled consumers over its emissions claims after the German carmaker admitted cheating on US pollution tests.
“The quality and the German engineering is still there, and people know that”, he said.
Volkswagen’s massive emissions cheating scandal will likely stain the reputation of Germany’s largest automaker.
“There won’t be a recession just because of a single company”, Kraemer added.
“This scandal has an enormous potential to derail the German economy”, Carsten Brzeski – chief economist for ING bank in Germany – told Sputnik on Thursday.
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“While the German economy defied Greece, the euro crisis and the Chinese slowdown, it could now be facing the biggest downside risk in a long while”, he said in a research note.
