Volkswagen says diesel scandal clean-up to cost €2b in 2019

Since 2015, the German carmaker has paid more than €27b to settle investor, consumer lawsuits

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen's cleanup of a diesel cheating scandal will cost it €5.5 billion euros ($6.25 billion) in 2018 and around €2 billion in 2019, Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter told German weekly Boersen-Zeitung.

Since 2015, the German car-making group has paid more than €27 billion to settle investor and consumer lawsuits as well as regulatory fines and remedies tied to resolving excessive emissions levels in its diesel cars.

In 2020, the Volkswagen Group will see costs of about €1 billion euros related to emissions cheating, Witter told the paper.

VW is sticking to plans for listing its trucks business in 2019 and continues to see growth potential in China, the world's largest car market, Witter said.



Earlier in September, Volkswagen went on trial to face investors seeking €9.2 billion ($10.6 billion) in compensation, arguing the carmaker should have informed shareholders earlier about its diesel emissions scandal.

Shareholders, representing about 1,670 claims, sought compensation for a slide in Volkswagen's share price triggered by the scandal, which broke in September 2015.

The plaintiffs said VW failed in its duty to inform investors about the financial impact of the scandal, which became public only after the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a "notice of violation" on September 18, 2015. Had investors known about Volkswagen's criminal activities, they may have sold shares earlier or not made purchases, thereby avoiding losses on their shareholdings, the plaintiffs argued.



Volkswagen admitted systematic emissions cheating, but denied wrongdoing in matters of regulatory disclosure.

"This case is mainly about whether Volkswagen complied with its disclosure obligations to shareholders and the capital markets," Volkswagen lawyer Markus Pfueller told the court in September.