No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsBusinessScandal-hit VW to cut investments by €1 billion, says CEO

Scandal-hit VW to cut investments by €1 billion, says CEO

BERLIN – German auto giant Volkswagen will cut investments by €1 billion euros in 2016, said its chief executive, as the group sought to scale back on spending to cope with its massive pollution cheating scandal.

“For 2016, we will reduce our investments to 12 billion euros [$13 billion]. That’s about a billion less than the average over the past few years,” said Matthias Mueller at a press conference following a supervisory board meeting.

“We will examine all our investments and all our spending. Everything that is not necessary will be dropped or postponed,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mueller said the company “will in no case make savings at the expense of our future,” as he promised that the carmaker will allocate an extra €100 million in 2016 on the development of hybrid and electric engines.

Among projects to be postponed is a design center at Wolfsburg, the group’s headquarters in northern Germany. The introduction of the next generation VW Phaeton will also be pushed back.

VW is engulfed in a huge pollution scandal that was initially centered on so-called defeat devices — sophisticated software fitted into diesel engines to skew the results of tests for nitrogen oxide emissions.

The carmaker has admitted to fitting 11 million diesel engines worldwide with the rogue software, triggering both regulatory and criminal investigations in several countries, including Germany and the United States.

But Volkswagen subsequently revealed that beyond the nitrogen oxide scam, it had also understated carbon dioxide emissions of 800,000 vehicles, including petrol cars.

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s Pride 2025 Closing Event Bans Minors, Sparks Outrage

Costa Rica’s Pride 2025 closing event, set for June 29 at San José’s Plaza de la Democracia, was thrown into controversy when the government...

Life After MS-13 in El Salvador as Residents Seek a Fragile Peace

Esperanza Martinez lost three relatives who were murdered and saw numerous bodies left in the streets of her neighborhood, a former stronghold of the...

Costa Rica’s Top Court Bans President Chaves from 2026 Election Campaign

Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Thursday barred President Rodrigo Chaves from participating in the 2026 election campaign, ruling that he "illegitimately used" his...

Why Costa Rica Feels Like a Safe Haven for This Longtime Expat

If someone asked me to sum up why I live in Costa Rica in 5 words or less, my answer could well be: “It...

Costa Rica Green Hotels Lead Global Sustainable Tourism

Costa Rica’s reputation as a leader in sustainable tourism grows stronger every year, with our green hotels setting a high bar for eco-conscious hospitality...

Costa Rica’s Rare Birds at Risk as Human Activity Threatens Extinction

Costa Rica’s bare-necked umbrellabird, a striking black bird with a red throat pouch and crest, is in trouble. A new study in Nature Ecology...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica