VW will report ‘outstanding’ results this year

Matthias Mueller, CEO Volkswagen Group has announced that VW will report excellent group results this year due to record vehicle sales and spending cuts. VW’s vehicle sales appear to have weathered the storm caused by the 2015 emissions scandal which cost the company billions of euros in fines and tarnished their reputation. "It will certainly be quite outstanding in operational terms," Mueller told Germany weekly paper Welt am Sonntag when asked to sum up the 2017 business year. Last month, the CEO predicted that group deliveries would exceed the 2016 record of 10.3 million vehicles. Cost cuts at the core passenger-cars division have caused the world's largest automaker to raise its profit target for the year, and it has since also upgraded its mid-term profit and sales guidance. On the other hand, Mueller said proposals by the European Commission for progressive cuts in carmakers' average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2025 and 2030 will "cause us real pain." VW more than two years ago admitted to cheating in diesel emissions tests in the United States. It has set aside about 25 billion euros ($30 billion) to cover related fines and vehicle repairs and faces thousands of lawsuits worldwide.  A signification portion of VW’s emissions scandal penance involves investment into eco-centric technologies and developing electric vehicle infrastructure, earlier this year the German carmaker agreed to spend $800 million in California and a total of $2 billion nationwide on EV infrastructure.  VW is due to publish detailed 2017 results on March 13.