The boost in sales revenue was helped by a favorable exchange rate, it said.
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“The company says it still faces considerable costs related to the scandal for which the company has set aside almost $7.5 billion”, NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Berlin.
It admitted installing software created to cheat emissions tests in 11 million diesel cars across the world.
The pollution scandal which broke in September wouldn’t have had much time to impact VW’s third quarter sales, but global carmakers are also struggling with a slowdown in China and a recession in Brazil, two emerging markets which had accounted for a large portion of sales growth in recent years. The cost “is enormous but manageable”, he said.
The figures show VW would have made a profit of 3.2 billion euros (£2.3 billion) if the “diesel issue” had not emerged.
The Environmental Protection Agency said 482,000 of the auto maker’s 2009-15 models in the U.S. were fitted with the software, which switched engines to a cleaner mode when they were undergoing official testing.
‘As a effect, corresponding provisions have not been recognised in the interim financial statements’.
Analysts took comfort in VW’s robust balance sheet, suggesting the carmaker should be able to cope with the costs from regulatory fines, lawsuits and refits which a few have said could total as much as 35 billion euros.
In 2014, VW sold over 10 million cars.
Company shares jumped 3.7 percent on the announcement in morning trading in Europe.
‘Together with the very strong net liquidity, this should reassure both equity and fixed income investors’.
The CEO will update investors on the latest findings of VW’s investigation into the scandal as well as its strategy plans in a conference call at 1130 GMT.
The company warned Wednesday that operating profit would be “down significantly” in response to the scandals.
As a result, Volkswagen posted an operating loss of €3.5 billion and pre-tax loss of €2.5 billion for the third quarter.
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Volkswagen says the losses came along with only a modest drop in sales for the quarter, down 3.7 percent from the third quarter of 2014. Steps could include discounts on new cars if owners turn in old models as well as cheap loans and incentives to dealers to buy back older cars.
