Scandal-struck car manufacturer Volkswagen said today that its profits fell in the second quarter by 57 per cent to 1.15 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
Second-quarter profits were weighed down by almost 2.5 billion euros of special items, mostly related to 2015’s diesel emissions cheating scandal.
“Further enormous feats of strength will be needed to contain the high costs of the diesel question,” finance director Frank Witter said in a statement.
The group obtained provisional approval in July for a usd 14.7 billion settlement to US buyers of some Audi and Volkswagen diesel vehicles, putting one important element of the fallout behind it.
But risks remain from other legal cases dragging on in the US and Germany, where prosecutors have broadened their investigation into the diesel emissions cheating. VW shares fell by just over two percent in early trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange .