Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said Wednesday the company had “solid and robust” cash resources to meet the financial impact of the emissions scandal.
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A Bloomberg report said that analysts are expecting that Europe’s largest automaker will post a loss of almost 3.26 billion Euros, its first deficit in over 10 years, in comparison to a 3.23 billion Euros ($3.57 billion) profit last year.
Nevertheless, VW said it anticipated gains for the entire year to be “down significantly”.
Bloomberg/Getty Images So far, the costs of the scandal are largely related to the refitting of affected vehicles.
Investors were initially relieved at the shallower-than-expected quarterly loss and VW shares shot up 4.5 percent to an intraday high of 109.90 euros on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
Volkswagen plans to cut investments by €1 billion a year at its core division, which accounts for 5 million cars to be recalled. The company’s third-quarter results slid well into the red, after scandal-related expenses weighed deeply on its latest financials.
Third-quarter sales revenues, or turnover, advanced by 5.3% to 51.487 billion euros ($57.12 billion), while deliveries to customers fell by 3.4% to 2.392 million vehicles worldwide.
The German group reported a third-quarter operating loss of €3.48 billion, in line with a €3.47 billion loss that was forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
In his first public question-and-answer session since a diesel-emissions cheating scandal swept out his predecessor a month ago, Mueller laid out a new business strategy and a fresh code of conduct that breaks with the style of the old guard. On top of the costs of likely fines, recalls, and full-blown auto buybacks in other countries, a few analysts think the ultimate cost of the scandal might push €80 billion.
VW has said it will speed up development of electric and hybrid vehicles in the wake of the crisis, and the head of its namesake brand told reporters at the Tokyo motor show the company’s next flagship model would be an all-electric vehicle. Volkswagen has also announced that audit firm Deloitte is to be involved in the investigation saying, “those responsible for what has happened must face severe consequences”.
VW also makes Audi, Porsche, SEAT and Skoda cars along with luxury Bentley and Lamborghini vehicles.
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Diesel cars could be allowed to emit more than twice as much as agreed limits for toxic air pollutants as a result of a new deal on emissions testing agreed by European government representatives meeting in Brussels today.
