The company believes only a small group of employees was responsible for cheating United States tests and that board members were not involved. The scandal, which caused VW vehicles to cheat US diesel emission tests, is the biggest crisis the carmaker has ever had to face.
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Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said investigations into the affair were going well, but the scandal was the result of a “chain of errors” and it would still take months to say which individuals were to blame.
He said the future would be about more open discussions, closer cooperation, and a willingness to allow mistakes if they are understood as an opportunity to learn.
The company has announced that it will be taking steps to improve oversight of its engine-software development to avoid this issue from happening again in the future.
It also hoped to reach agreement with US environmental authorities in the next few days or weeks so the company can start to recall affected cars there.
Shares in VW, which have fallen 30% since the emissions scandal emerged in September, rebounded following the news.
VW expects to provide a more detailed update on its investigation into the diesel scandal at the board’s Annual Meeting in April 2016.
VW also said it was planning a new corporate structure that would be in place across the group by early 2017. The company will not be considering the sale of any units and will not raise money.
But executives were still unable to estimate the scandal’s legal costs, for which they had so far made no provisions.
He said the investigation has so far analyzed data from laptops, phones and other devices from 400 employees. Volkswagen found it “impossible” to make its four-cylinder TDI engines meet USA nitrogen-oxide (NOx) laws in the USA, so engineers chose to create software that altered how the vehicle ran in emissions-test labs compared to in the real world.
Later, when a technical solution became available, it was not employed, Poetsch said.
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“There is no reason whatsoever to get rid of these assets”, said Mueller, who oversees brands from Ducati motorcycles to Scania heavy trucks and Bugatti supercars.
