Electric cars main focus for Volkswagen going forward

Chief Executive Matthias Mueller talked to President Obama for a couple of minutes during his visit to Hanover on Sunday.

"I used the opportunity to personally apologise to him for our behaviour", Mr Mueller said during a news conference in Wolfsburg on Thursday. The engineers updated the software to get better at figuring out when it was being tested, and didn't worry about getting caught because government regulators weren't known to use mobile emissions equipment.

Volkswagen first admitted to rigging engine emissions tests in America and Europe in September, later saying it fitted as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with software that could cheat nitrogen oxide emissions tests.

A PowerPoint presentation was prepared by a top technology executive at Volkswagen in 2006, laying out in detail how the automaker could cheat on emissions tests in the United States.

Nonetheless, Müller said Volkswagen continued to be on sound financial footing, pointing to available overall resources of 24.5 billion euros and a net cash flow of little under 9 billion euros. The company is now working out a settlement with U.S. authorities in federal court in San Francisco, and has said that would include an offer to buy back as many as 500 000 of the nearly 600 000 defective vehicles.

Nevertheless, it is commendable that Volkswagen is now seeking to make further amends by emphasising digital car-sharing services and throwing its muscle behind zero-emissions cars.

He said the company would soon form an independent company to promote business in mobility services, which can include things like ride-sharing apps and car-sharing.

Analysts said there were big challenges ahead, as Volkswagen strives to cut costs at its underperforming VW brand in the face of union opposition, and reform a highly centralised company structure blamed for lax controls and delays to new models.

It showed that all of Britain's most popular diesel cars exceeded legal limits - with toxic emissions up to 14 times higher than claimed. The vehicle maker booked a €16.4bn previous year as a result of the emissions-manipulation scandal, provisions to recall cars with potentially faulty air bags from its North American market and restructuring plans in South America.

Separately, VW revealed that its management board would be paid a total €63.2 million for 2015 despite the huge year-end loss, but a large chunk of that would only be paid if the company's share price reached agreed targets over the next three years.

The former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who was forced to resign due to the scandal, will receive $8.3 million (€7.3million) with 30 percent of the initial package postponed. Bonuses at Volkswagen are calculated based on the company's performance over several years.

Mueller told the audience gathered in Wolfsburg, Germany, that "regaining that trust will be our most important task over the next few months".

Bernie Sanders wins West Virginia primarySanders acknowledged, however that he faces an uphill climb. "We have been fighting uphill from the day this campaign began". Despite losing by double digits on Tuesday night, Clinton has 94 percent of the delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Source: Electric cars main focus for Volkswagen going forward