VW pays billions for consultants and lawyers

Author: Thomas Wandler
Date: 21.06.2019

Further costs for the diesel affair

Volkswagen’s costs for the diesel gate have once again climbed. This time the increase was due to costs for lawyers and consultants. The exact amount is 1.77 billion euros.

The sum includes payments for all brands, inclusive Audi and Porsche, as well as for all markets. This was reported by the German newspaper “Handelsblatt”. A VW spokesman confirmed the amount of the costs on request.

According to estimations, the sum is expected to rise as the legal proceedings within the framework of the exhaust scandal have not yet been completed. Among the major legal representatives is the US law firm Jones Day. In 2015, VW commissioned Jones Day to represent the company against the US law enforcement authorities.

At the beginning of the year, Volkswagen recorded a significant decline in profits. In the first quarter, net income amounted to €3.05 billion – compared with around €3.3 billion a year earlier.

The costs of litigation also made a major contribution to this. The invoice included costs for lawyers, settlements and pending proceedings. VW CFO Frank Witter announced this at the beginning of May. In total, the diesel scandal has already cost the car manufacturer around 30 billion euros.