Volkswagen is not yet able to put a figure on the total cost of cleaning up the diesel emissions cheating scandal until a final deal is struck with authorities in the United States, Chief Executive Matthias Mueller has said.
Yesterday VW said it had agreed on a framework of the deal with the Justice Department, state of California, the US Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Trade Commission as well as lawyers for car owners who filed class action civil lawsuits.
"We are today not in a position to pre-empt the outcome of negotiations which will determine the cost," Mueller told a news conference at Volkswagen's headquarters.
Today Volkswagen unveiled €16.2bn in provisions for 2015, which Mr Mueller said included the cost of technical fixes for cars that violate clean air standards, buybacks of vehicles and legal costs.
But the group still faces US Justice Department fines as part of an expected civil settlement, an ongoing Justice Department investigation that could lead to criminal charges and an outcry in Europe to do more for millions of owners of VW vehicles.
Volkswagen's emissions-test cheating scandal spilled over to the wider car industry today as Germany's top manufacturers agreed to recall 630,000 vehicles to tweak diesel engine software technology blamed for causing high pollution.
As part of a widening clampdown on health-threatening nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, Porsche, Volkswagen, Opel, Audi and Mercedes diesel cars will be recalled to fix engine management systems, a German government official said.
BMW, which invested in fuel saving technologies earlier than most rivals, was not part of the recall, the official said.
Engine management systems and software have come under scrutiny ever since Volkswagen (VW) in September admitted it had installed programmes which cheat diesel emissions tests.
