Audi and VW have set aside another €1bn between them to pay for the diesel emissions scandal
Audi and Volkswagen have set aside another €1bn (£893m) between them to address the diesel emissions scandal which which has beset the pair since September last year.
Ahead of results from the Volkswagen Group today, Audi, which is owned by VW, said it expected additional financial burdens of €620m in the third quarter.
That's partly thanks to the diesel emissions scandal, but also because of problems with Takata branded airbags, which have been recalled in their thousands after it was discovered they were failing.
Audi said it now reckons full-year operating return on sales after special items will be considerably below the eight to 10 per cent originally expected.
Shortly after that bombshell, VW said it, too, was setting aside further funds to address the scandal – taking the full cost so far to a little over €18bn. No wonder it was the proud winner of an Ig Nobel prize this year….
Meanwhile, the group posted an operating profit of €3.3bn in the third quarter, down from €3.4bn the year before. Deliveries edged up 4.2 per cent from 2.4m in the third quarter of 2015, to 2.5m this year.
The good news is that a $15bn (£12.2bn) settlement over the scandal was signed off by a US judge on Tuesday. The settlement means just under half a million owners will be handed $10bn between them, while the company will pay $2bn towards a programme to create (anti) emissions technology and $2.7bn towards mitigating air pollution.
However, it only affects owners of two-litre cars – meaning the company could be in line to pay out towards owners of vehicles with three-litre engines.
So it's hardly surprising that, after a short rally, shares lost energy in early trading, rising just 0.1 per cent to €126.25.
Still, the company said it expects deliveries to be slightly higher than last year, thanks to growing volume in China.
"This is a robust base on which we intend to push forward with our planned transformation from car manufacturer to provider of sustainable mobility," said chief executive Matthias Mueller.
"We have laid out a compelling plan for this transition. As our future programme and the latest quarterly results prove, the Volkswagen Group remains fully operational in spite of the present pressures."
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