BERLIN (Reuters) - Hans Dieter Poetsch, the incoming chairman of Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) (VW) (DE:VOWG_p),
sees the scandal around the rigging of emissions tests as a threat to
the firm's viability albeit a surmountable one, a newspaper quoted him
as saying.
At an internal company meeting this week at the VW
headquarters in Wolfsburg, Poetsch described the situation as an
"existence-threatening crisis for the company", Germany's Welt am
Sonntag reported in a release ahead of Sunday's publication.
Poetsch also said that he believed VW could overcome the crisis, the newspaper said.
A VW spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Europe's
largest carmaker has admitted cheating in diesel emissions tests in the
United States and Germany's transport minister says it also manipulated
them in Europe, where VW sells about 40 percent of its vehicles.
VW
has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to help cover the cost
of the scandal, but some analysts think the final bill could be much
higher.
Moody's, S&P and Fitch have all put negative outlooks on their credit ratings, meaning they see a risk of downgrades.
Citing
an unnamed insider, Welt am Sonntag said VW's planned investment budget
of 100 billion euros through to 2018 was under review for cuts. VW
declined to comment.
Sources close to the board told Reuters this
week the supervisory board was looking at ways to make savings to try
to avoid a downgrade in the company's credit ratings, which would lead
to higher borrowing costs.
They said, however, it was not talking
about asset sales, after calls from some analysts for the firm to sell
its trucks business or brands such as Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini.
VW
has said it will refit up to 11 million diesel vehicles that contain
software capable of cheating emission tests. It also faces potential
fines from regulators and prosecutors, lawsuits from consumers and
investors, and a possible hit to sales from the damage to its
reputation.
A survey by German market research firm Puls
showed 41 percent of consumers see the brand as damaged for the long
term, while 11 percent say they no longer want to buy a VW, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung paper reported.
