VW said in a statement it is setting aside 16.2 billion euros ($18.2 billion) in provisions to cover the potential fines, lawsuits and recall costs it can sensibly foresee so far. The release of findings from an investigation VW commissioned from a U.S. law firm has been been pushed back.
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The company released its full year earnings on Friday, reporting a net loss of 5.5 billion euros ($6.2 billion) in 2015.
But with Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority examining VW’s plan to clean up its mess – and other authorities still investigating – a solution is elusive.
Volkswagen owner Peggy Schaeffer, a North Carolina librarian with a diesel 2010 Jetta SportWagen, said she wanted VW to fix her auto when she first heard about the scandal.
Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said the investigation remains “active and ongoing”.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has asked Volkswagen why it was offering compensation to customers affected by the diesel emissions scandal in the USA but not the UK.
VW said that thanks to the scandal, as well as tough global economic conditions, it expects sales for the group this year to be as much as 5% lower than 2015’s €213.3bn (£166.8bn). He identified the companies concerned as Mercedes, Opel and Volkswagen and its subsidiaries Audi and Porsche.
VW shares closed on Friday at $125.45, down about 1.2%. The company said it will also compensate buyers monetarily.
And late Thursday, top of the range German maker Daimler announced that it was launching an internal probe into its emission certification process at the request of the USA authorities.
Though no other carmaker besides VW has been found to use so-called “defeat” devices, regulators and environmental groups have criticized the widespread use of engine management systems which switch off emissions treatment to improve engine performance and increase the interval between services.
Volkswagen began this week to make considerable progress in resolving its emissions-cheating scandal more than six months after admitting it manipulated diesel-engine software to suppress emissions in the lab but allow higher nitrogen-oxide levels during normal driving. It added that the disclosure of the interim results of the report at this point “would prevent unacceptable risks for Volkswagen and, therefore, can not take place now”.
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-Ruth Bender and Ilka Kopplin contributed to this article.
