VW warns US emissions scandal costs could rise

Volkswagen's chief executive officer Matthias Mueller has warned that costs associated with its emissions scandal in the US could escalate above the automaker’s current provisions, and the matter might take longer to resolve.

In an interview with the BBC, Mueller said VW was still in "constructive dialogue" with regulators and hoped the firm would be "judged fairly".

The VW chief also warned a €6.7bn (£5.2bn) provision the company had made to cover costs of the scandal might not be enough, but that he was “impatient for answers” himself.

"I've postponed our year-end financial results and the AGM to improve their quality, so that we can be even more confident and take even more care and diligence in establishing the figures.Then we'll see if we have to make additional provisions, over and above the €6.7bn," Mueller added.

Results of an internal inquiry could be ready in April, the CEO said further.

Last September, US authorities discovered that VW used computer software to alter emissions data during tests, a scandal that led to the resignation of Mueller’s predecessor. While the scandal originated in the US, it has since emerged around 11m VW vehicles globally had been fitted with such devices.

The US Justice Department taking legal action against VW for breaching environmental laws, and the company has been ordered to fix almost 600,000 diesel vehicles in the country fitted with the devices.

Mueller described his company’s actions as a “grave mistake.”

“We have lost a lot of trust with our customers, and we now need to win them back. We need to face the allegations of the authorities, and I expect a fair ruling here. And then it's important to look ahead, and to make VW into an even better company."

However, he insisted that the German automaker had not been "paralysed" by the emissions scandal and it was looking to "the future with confidence".