Sales revenue grew 5.3 percent to 51.49 billion euros from 48.91 billion euros in the prior year. This will help us manage the challenging situation caused by the financial impact of the diesel issue, ‘ added chief financial officer Frank Witter.
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The company warned Wednesday that operating profit this year would be “down significantly” as a result of the scandal. The cash reserves have been buttressed by 3 billion euros from the sale of shares in Suzuki.
In the quarter, deliveries to customers fell 3.4 percent from past year to 2.39 million units, and vehicle sales fell 3.7 percent to 2.35 million units. The cost “is enormous but manageable”, he said.
The scandal became known on September 18, near the end of the quarter, so any impact on quarterly sales was slight.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Volkswagen equipped 482,000 cars with software that disabled emissions controls when the cars were not being tested. Following its admission the so-called “defeat device” illegal software was actually fitted in 11 million autos sold around the world since 2009, the German carmaker is being intensely scrutinized by national authorities around the world and also faces a massive tally of lawsuits.
Volkswagen plans to cut investments by 1 billion euros a year at its core division, which accounts for 5 million cars to be recalled.
Considering special offers for existing customers is part of “daily business” by VW and its dealers, a VW spokesman said, declining to be more specific. The goal was achieved for several months this year but then lost due to the scandal.
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Taking on Thomas Sedran as Volkswagen’s new chief of corporate strategy brings another outside voice to the company as it re-examines its culture in the wake of the scandal.
