VW chairman says winning back trust is top priority

He announced the company would start road testing all its vehicles’ emissions, with the results to be verified by a third party, to avoid a repeat of its scandal.

“Just a month after questions relating to the Carbon dioxide figures measured on some of the group’s models arose, Volkswagen has largely concluded the clarification of the matter”, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company has suffered multiple emissions scandals and faces an uphill climb as they try to recall millions of vehicles equipped with defeat devices meant to cheat nitrogen oxide emissions standards.

The automaker initially said 800,000 of its diesel vehicles were emitting illegal amounts of carbon dioxide, but now says that number is only 36,000.

The unexpected cost of the manufacturer’s emission scandal revealed in September caused the firm to plunge into the red, from a €3.23bn profit in the equivalent quarter in 2014. He said the company has suspended nine managers who were “possibly involved in the manipulations” and he pledged to assign emissions certification to independent auditors in the future.

Mr Poetsch said: “No business justifies crossing legal and ethical boundaries”.

VW has said it will provide a thorough update on the investigation at its Wolfsburg headquarters on Thursday the 10th of December, including its plans to cut costs to offset the fines and compensation costs.

Matthias Mueller, Volkswagen’s chief executive, said the investigation has so far found that the engineers kept knowledge of the problem closely held within a small group of employees. The company admitted Thursday that in certain areas within the operation there was “a mindset” that allowed for rule breaking, according to the Financial Times.

‘As serious as this crisis is, it is also offering us an opportunity to drive much-need structural change and we will use that opportunity, ‘ Mueller said.

He said VW was working on a new structure to give more power to its regional divisions and brands.

The aim of the press conference was to “inform the public of the current state of the investigations into the diesel affair and the company’s strategic re-orientation”, according to the invitation.