Volkswagen, which was recently taken over by Matthias Müller in the wake of the scandal, has said that about 11 million of its cars worldwide were affected by the company’s fraudulent emissions tests. CNBC reports that 2.1 million of those were Audis, one ofVW’s luxury brands. The company announced that 1.42 million of the affected luxury vehicles were in Western Europe, 577,000 in Germany, and 13,000 in the U.S.
An engineer working for the carmaker supposedly warned the company about cheating on the tests back in 2011. VW didn’t listen, and now it’s paying the price.
The company originally set aside about $7.3 billion to cover damages resulting from the scandal. Juergen Pieper, head of automotive research at Bankhaus Metzler, said that it won’t be nearly enough. Fines have been estimated at up to $18 billion, and that doesn’t include expenses resulting from its tarnished reputation. Pieper believes that it will take VW years to recover.
Stocks fell 30% last week after the carmaker admitted to cheating on the emissions tests. Stocks fell again on Monday by more than 7%, showing that investors are still unsure that the company will be able to get a firm handle on the crisis.
