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"Sixty-six percent of investors responded that it is not possible to invest in VW over the next 6 months if costs, fines, legal and criminal proceedings are outstanding or inadequately quantified," Evercore analyst Arndt Ellinghorst wrote in a research note.
The survey, published on Tuesday, also showed that 76 percent of investors believe that VW should spin off its trucks business, while 62 percent said the company had too many brands, suggesting the group needs streamlining.
Evercore did not make clear in its note when the survey was conducted and was not immediately available to comment on the timing.
Investors to steer clear of VW over next six months: survey
Interest in the technology, through which certain car functions can be upgraded much the same way as an iPhone, comes as Tesla is set to deliver an OTA for hands-free cruise control this month, allowing its electric Model S sedans to drive themselves on freeways. "Tesla has made great strides in raising the profile of OTA, making it appear somewhat sexy by showing how features could be added," said Strategy Analytics consultant Roger Lanctot. "They're almost poking the traditional carmakers in the eye by making it look so easy."
That has spurred the big automakers to get more serious about OTAs, although they are hampered by the challenge of making software compatible with internal combustion engines, dealers worried about losing service revenue and security concerns. "There's a whole mindset change" as automakers embrace the need for the technology, said Honda spokesman Matt Sloustcher.
Oren Betzaleli, product strategy head for Israeli OTA firm Redbend, said four years ago it was hard to get in the door. "Today, OTA is so important to car makers that we can get in right away to see the VPs of manufacturing," he said. Betzaleli said between six and 10 auto companies are "engaged" with Redbend's technology for cars but declined to name them. There are about 70 different computers in every modern car, each with software that has to be managed, Betzaleli said.
MORE Big Auto look to tech companies to fix cars over the air
New Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said the German carmaker would tell customers in the coming days they would need to have diesel vehicles with illegal software refitted, a move which some analysts have said could cost more than $6.5 billion. Europe's biggest 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 Volkswagen sells about 40 percent of its vehicles.
The company is under huge pressure to address the worst business crisis in its 78-year history, which has wiped more than a third off its market value, sent shock waves through the global car market and could harm Germany's economy. "We are facing a long trudge and a lot of hard work," Mueller told a closed-door gathering of about 1,000 top managers at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg headquarters late on Monday. "We will only be able to make progress in steps and there will be setbacks," he said, according to a text seen by Reuters.
Volkswagen did not say how the planned refit would make cars with the "cheat" software comply with regulations, or how this might affect vehicles' mileage or efficiency, which are important considerations for customers. It said it would submit the details to Germany's KBA watchdog next month. Manipulating emissions results allowed Volkswagen to keep down engine costs in a "clean diesel" strategy that was popular in Europe and at the heart of a drive to improve U.S. results. Mueller was appointed CEO on Friday to replace Martin Winterkorn. German prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating Winterkorn over allegations of fraud.
EMBARRASSMENT
VW announced the offer yesterday. The car owners have been in limbo since mid-September, when VW admitted the cars are equipped with software that turns on pollution controls during government tests and turns them off while on the road. VW has yet to unveil a fix for the cars. The US Environmental Protection Agency says the cars, with 2—liter four—cylinder diesel engines, emit 10 to 40 times the allowable amount of harmful nitrogen oxide while being driven. “The problem that most of us suffer from is we’re in never—never land so this at least gives us some compensation until they figure it out,” said Bob Rand, a retired judge in Pasadena, California, who says he and his wife have owned at least a dozen new Volkswagens over the years.
The USD 500 Visa gift card can be used anywhere, while the USD 500 voucher can be used at a VW dealership for things such as an oil change or new set of tires, or even a down payment on a new car. The offer also includes free roadside assistance for the diesel vehicles for three years. “We are working tirelessly to develop an approved remedy for affected vehicles,” said Michael Horn, VW’s US CEO, said in a statement. “In the meantime we are providing this goodwill package as a first step towards regaining our customers’ trust.” Steve Kalafer, chairman of the Flemington Car and Truck Country dealerships in Flemington, New Jersey, said Volkswagen’s offer is a welcome first step after a long silence between the automaker, its customers and its US retailers.
Kalafer said he hasn’t heard yet from any customers about Volkswagen’s offer, but he expects they’ll want more from the company to address the many issues raised by the emissions scandal. “They will appreciate the communication, but I imagine that until a real resolution is found that appreciation will be muted,” he said. Whatever fix VW designs could wind up hurting performance or perhaps fuel mileage, the two main reasons why people buy diesels. More than 200 class—action lawsuits have been filed in the US against VW alleging that the scandal caused the diesel cars to drop in value.
Volkswagen diesel owners to get $ 1,000 in gift cards and vouchers
Brazil's Ibama environmental agency also is requiring Volkswagen to present a plan for recalling vehicles sold here that contain software that turns on pollution controls during government tests and turns them off while on the road.
Thursday's statement from the government cites Volkswagen as saying just over 17,000 vehicles containing such software were sold in Brazil. The cars affected are diesel Amarok pickup trucks from 2011 and 2012.
The government says the fine levied against Volkswagen is the maximum possible under Brazilian law. The company is recalling some 8.5 million cars with the software across Europe. It says about 11 million cars have the software, worldwide.
News from The Associated Press
In a move to get to the bottom of the scandal more quickly, Volkswagen brand manager Herbert Diess told staff in a letter that the company won't seek damages or fire employees for what they might reveal. Workers could be transferred to other duties, however, and the company stressed it cannot get anyone off the hook for ongoing criminal probes. The offer is valid until Nov. 30 and only applies to workers covered by collective bargaining agreements.
In the letter, made public by the company Thursday, Diess says the offer was being made in the interests of "full and swift clarification" of the scandal, which has seen revelations trickle out over weeks. Volkswagen is facing fines, expensive recalls and lost sales after U.S. authorities found it had equipped diesel cars with software that turned off emissions controls and pepped up performance when the vehicle was not being tested. Under normal driving conditions, the vehicles strongly exceeded limits for nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that can cause health problems. The company has said there were also "irregularities" in its measurement of emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas scientists say contributes to global warming.
The company says up to 11 million vehicles worldwide have the software that helped cheat on the U.S. emissions tests. Volkswagen is under pressure to speed up its reaction to the scandal. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, but his replacement, Matthias Mueller, is a longtime company employee, as is the board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch. That has led to questions about whether insiders can clean up the mess. The company, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, has hired an outside executive to oversee legal compliance, and has brought in U.S. law firm Jones Day to investigate. German prosecutors are also looking into the matter.
Volkswagen's step is similar to one taken by German industrial firm Siemens AG as it cleaned up a bribery scandal in 2008. A new CEO, Peter Loescher, announced a monthlong amnesty, later extended for one more month, explicitly excluding former directors. According to a study by the London-based Institute of Business Ethics, some forty whistleblowers at Siemens came forward about the widespread practice of paying bribes through phony consultants to win business, extending the scandal's reach into previous upper management, according to report authors Graham Dietz and Nicole Gillespie.
News from The Associated Press
Without citing its sources, Germany's daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the company expected it would have to either refund the purchase price of a fifth of the diesel vehicles affected or offer a new car at a significant discount. Volkswagen expects that the rest of the vehicles will need major refits, incurring significant costs for parts and a long stay at the garage as parts of the exhaust must be reconstructed and approved, the newspaper reported. Volkswagen could not be immediately reached for comment.
On Tuesday, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said he was confident the German automaker would reach agreement with U.S regulators to bring nearly 500,000 diesel vehicles into compliance with U.S. emissions laws. In an interview with Reuters, Diess said fixing older VW cars equipped with 2.0-litre diesel engines would be more difficult than bringing more recent models into compliance. Some U.S. regulators and lawmakers have said VW may have to buy back older models. Diess did not say whether VW was discussing that, but said he was optimistic an agreement with U.S. regulators would be reached soon.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday that "recall discussions with the company have not produced an acceptable way forward. EPA continues to insist that VW develops effective, appropriate remedies as expeditiously as possible." The U.S. Justice Department on Monday sued Volkswagen for up to $48 billion for allegedly violating U.S. environmental laws. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung also reported that about 50 employees - including several division heads - had come forward as part of an internal amnesty program to help the company clear up the scandal.
Volkswagen has admitted it installed software in certain diesel models sold in the United States, that allowed the cars to pass government emissions tests, but then emit nearly 40 times the allowed levels of pollutants on the road. Diess said Volkswagen expected the company would be able to repair by the end of 2016 about 8.5 million diesel cars sold in Europe that did not comply with emissions standards.
Volkswagen likely to buy back 115,000 cars in U.S: German report
German carmaker Volkswagen has posted its first drop in VW brand sales in 11 years as the company continues to cope with its emissions scandal. Sales of VW brand cars fell 4.8% in 2015 to 5.82 million cars from 6.12 million a year earlier. Falling demand in China and US added to the losses as orders fell in December. VW has promised it will have a fix in the coming weeks for the millions of US cars with defeat devices that disguised emission levels in diesel cars. Sales began declining after the scandal came to light in September. Deliveries fell 5.3% in October, 2.4% in November and 7.9% in December compared with those months the previous year.
The underperformance at VW's largest division by sales and revenue pulled down annual group deliveries by 2% to 9.93 million cars, the first drop in 13 years, VW said. However, speaking on Wednesday, Volkswagen chief executive Herbert Diess said he was "optimistic" the company would find a solution soon. "We will bring a package together which satisfies our customers first and foremost and then also the regulators," said Mr Diess. Regulators appear been less confident. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which uncovered the scandal, said on Monday that VW had not yet "not produced an acceptable way forward". The company will meet US regulators in Washington next week to discuss its plan.
US charges
On Monday, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against VW for the use of the emissions devices, which involve computer software that can detect when cars are being tested. The Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said on Friday that the company was not cooperating with the investigation.
Volkswagen has been withholding corporate emails between executive related to the emissions scandal, using German law as the basis for the refusal. "I find it frustrating that, despite public statements professing cooperation and an expressed desire to resolve the various investigations that it faces following its calculated deception, Volkswagen is, in fact, resisting cooperation by citing German law," Mr Jepsen said in a statement.
Car industry record year
So typical of a bygone era.......
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Most of the money would compensate 482,000 owners of two-litre diesel cars programmed to distort emissions tests. Owners could receive between $1,000 and $7,000, depending on their car's age. The agreement could still change when it is officially announced by a judge on Tuesday, sources said.
Lawyers representing car owners, Volkswagen and the US Environmental Protection Agency have not yet agreed the steps VW will take to fix the cars. The company still faces accusations over its three-litre diesel cars, as well as the prospect of hefty fines from US regulators and possible criminal charges.
'Misconduct'
Earlier this year the German company more than doubled its provisions for the scandal to €16.2bn (£12.6bn). On Wednesday VW chief executive Mr Mueller issued a fresh apology to shareholders, saying the "misconduct goes against everything that Volkswagen stands for". However, he has not put a figure on the total cost of the emissions scandal until a final deal was reached with US authorities.
Volkswagen admitted in September it had installed a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines in the US that could detect when they were being tested. The company subsequently revealed that more than 11 million cars worldwide were affected. Volkswagen said it was unable to comment ahead of the court's decision.
Volkswagen 'to pay $10bn' for US emissions scandal - BBC News
