The money is needed as the company faces multi-billion euro costs from fines, lawsuits and refits of 11 million diesel vehicles.
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The gathering comes amid mixed news for VW, which has made progress towards a simpler-than-expected recall of 8.5-million rigged diesel cars in Europe, even as talks with United States regulators are continuing and plummeting sales in the country show the effect of the crisis on the showroom floor.
“Volkswagen may also consider divesting luxury auto brands Bentley and Lamborghini or motor bike brand Ducati, although these units don’t really move the needle”, one of the sources said.
But Tuesday, the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, known by the initials KBA, said in an e-mail that the software used in the EA189, the original diesel engine implicated in the scandal, “is an illegal defeat device according to the KBA’s legal interpretation”. “I am deeply convinced that Volkswagen will weather the current hard situation …”
The mostly reclusive Porsche-Piech families who own most of Volkswagen today told the embattled company’s workers they would do everything they could to protect their jobs.
Wolfsburg Mayor Klaus Mohrs said he hoped the city could work on a strategy to promote electric cars with Volkswagen to create a model town and “pave the way for a new era of mobility”. They also said VW could have raised as much as 29 billion euros and financing bridge could be turned later into bonds for repayment.
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Volkswagen’s credit rating on Tuesday for the second time since the crisis became public in September.
Separately, VW said the number of cars whose carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption have been understated may turn out to be smaller than the 800,000 announced last month.
A US judicial panel will meet in New Orleans Thursday to consider consolidating more than 350 lawsuits filed against VW in connection with the emissions scandal.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Muellersaid the emissions issue was a catalyst for change.
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Most general automotive observers note almost a 25% drop in Volkswagen’s US vehicle sales last month compared to one year ago.
