On Friday, a day after agreeing the outlines of a deal with USA environment regulators, Volkswagen said it is to take a 16.2 billion-euro ($18.2 billion) hit in its 2015 accounts related to its diesel emissions scandal identified in the US a year ago.
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The carmakers said they will cooperate with authorities.
The minister also said European regulations need to be clarified to prevent current loopholes in the current framework on emissions testing.
Yesterday, a federal judge announced an agreement between USA officials, private parties and Volkswagen to offer its customers a number of options to resolve emissions issues, including buying back vehicles and repairing cars to meet current standards.
With that attitude, it’s no surprise that both automakers are getting US scrutiny, or that the emissions-cheating scandal could be growing.
“The emissions issue significantly impacted the Volkswagen group’s business in the 2015 reporting period”, CEO Mueller said. About 482,000 were sold in the USA, and 11 million were sold globally.
It also said it was holding back part of the bonuses for top executives.
German carmakers would have to recall Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles in Europe after failing the test, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, adding that Berlin was unable to require foreign auto makers that did not fall under its jurisdiction to take similar action. As a result, in order to get things done, they don’t tell their superiors what they’re up to, he said.
It was the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that originally broke the scandal. Meanwhile, 600,000 diesel vehicles are still driving on USA roads, in some cases emitting 10 to 40 times the amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) as is legally allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Already, the automaker has lost billions of dollars in value since the diesel emissions scandal unfolded last September. It still faces about 500 US lawsuits and the potential for billions in government fines.
VW has agreed a framework settlement with US authorities to buy back or potentially fix cars there, but will likely face billions more in costs, including possible fines as part of an expected civil settlement, and even criminal charges from the US Department of Justice.
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On Friday, Volkswagen said the Jones Day investigation was at an advanced stage and would continue, but the company declined to release findings at this point. The company reported a net loss of $1.77 billion for 2015. Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit and Frank Jordans from Berlin also contributed.
