VW Dieselgate scandal to cost RM127 billion – report

The long-running Dieselgate scandal that has blighted the Volkswagen Group is now expected to rack up an additional US$3 billion (RM12.7 billion) to a total of US$30 billion (RM127 billion), according to the German automaker. The additional sum is attributed to ‘negative special items’ which are expected to burden the operating result, due to the buyback and retrofit programmes for 2.0 litre TDI engines in North America.

The models involved for the US market included the Beetle, Golf, Jetta, Passat, and Audi A3, which use the 2.0 litre turbodiesel mills. Despite the fallout, US-market sales of diesel Volkswagens actually charted a 12% growth in April this year, which amounted to 10.3 million diesel vehicles sold in that time. Last week, former VW engine development chief Wolfgang Hatz was arrested by German authorities in relation to Dieselgate.

Hatz’s arrest follows the apprehension of another former Volkswagen engineer, James Liang, who was slapped with a 40-month prison sentence and a US$200,000 fine for his role in engineering the software for the emissions control defeat devices.

Meanwhile, VW Group brand Audi said it has no knowledge of Hatz’s arrest, and will continue to cooperate with the authorities, said a report by Automotive News Europe. Before this, only one other person has been detained in Germany, in relation to Dieselgate – that person was Zaccheo Giovanni Pamio, former chief of thermodynamics in engine development at Audi.

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