KEY POINTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming months.</li><li>“Markets are always about the future,” Diess said when asked why investors valued Tesla at such a premium to other traditional carmakers.</li><li>“We are still aiming at keeping up and probably overtaking by 2025 when it comes to sales,” Diess said.</li></ul>



The chief executive of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/VOW3-DE">Volkswagen</a>&nbsp;believes Europe’s biggest carmaker can overtake&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/TSLA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tesla</a>&nbsp;to become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles by 2025.



Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming months.



“Markets are always about the future,” Diess said when asked why investors valued Tesla at such a premium to other traditional carmakers, such as Volkswagen.



“Tesla currently is in the lead when it comes to EVs, probably also it is the most digital car company already and they have some advantages,” he continued. “We are still aiming at keeping up and probably overtaking by 2025 when it comes to sales.”



Diess said Tesla has been able to demonstrate good results and high returns with a credible business model. However, he reaffirmed his belief that Volkswagen could soon close the gap when it comes to EV sales.



“I think for Tesla, also, ramping up now will probably be a bit more challenging. They are opening up new plants and we are trying to keep up speed. We think in the second half of the year, we are going to create some momentum,” Diess said.



Volkswagen’s Frankfurt-listed shares traded around 0.9% lower on Tuesday morning, roughly in line with losses in the autos sector on the pan-European Stoxx 600.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-supply-chain-crisis-to-alleviate"><a></a>Supply chain crisis to alleviate</h2>



More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, the auto industry continues to grapple with the challenge of obtaining crucial parts and building enough vehicles to meet demand.



Shortages of critical supplies, particularly when it comes to battery production, are expected to be an ongoing constraint for the growth of electric vehicle sales in the years ahead.



Nonetheless, Diess said there are some positive signs on the horizon. He expects to see some relief from the semiconductor supply market from the middle of the year.



“I would say that we would see an alleviation of this situation towards mid-year and second half we should be in better shape — if the situation is not getting any worse, which I don’t think so,” Diess said.



When asked whether this means he expects the semiconductor crisis could end in the second half of the year, Diess replied: “I wouldn’t say end but we see a much-improved situation. I think supply chains are getting in order again.&#8221;

Volkswagen chief says German car giant will overtake Tesla on electric vehicle sales by 2025

PRAGUE (Reuters) &#8211; Volkswagen’s Czech carmaker Skoda Auto named VW’s South Africa boss Thomas Schaefer as its new chairman on Monday as part of a wider shake-up at the German autos group.



Schaefer replaces Bernhard Maier, who left the Czech firm last month after nearly five years during which he led the 125-year-old Skoda to record profits.



Skoda is the central European country’s biggest exporter, but its success has sometimes caused friction within Volkswagen, whose labour boss has criticised it for cannibalising sales.



The Czech company delivered 1.24 million cars globally in 2019, with China and Germany as its top markets. Like other carmakers, Skoda is battling to get back from shutdowns due to the coronavirus crisis and now faces uncertainty over demand.



However, it said last week it saw signs of recovery, after first-half deliveries crashed 31% and group Chief Executive Herbert Diess told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that Skoda &#8211; one of VW’s 12 brands &#8211; needed to do more to compete with South Korean and French rivals.



Labour unions, traditionally strong at Skoda Auto, said it was unclear what Schaefer’s appointment would mean for the direction of the Czech carmaker.



Schaefer, who takes up the post with immediate effect, joined Volkswagen from Mercedes-Benz in 2012 and has since 2015 led Volkswagen Group South Africa, which produces vehicles and engines mainly for export. It hit record output in 2019.



Schaefer also ran VW’s broader African business and spearheaded the development of production hubs in countries including Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

By Stephán Engelbrecht, Fund Management



The world is entering an unprecedented time and there is no historical playbook for what happens next. While not our base case, calamity risk is increasing (mass infections across South Africa [SA], with dire economic consequences), and nobody knows how to quantify this risk. We have many requests from clients asking for investment opportunities in this crash and we are happy to share our fundamental views. However, investors in any equities must bear in mind that, in the shorter term, cheap shares can get even cheaper and wild swings are likely. Our views are based on a 12-to 24-month timeline, with a base case scenario of the world normalising during this time period. So, risks have to be taken into account and any investment in equities should be considered in this context. Shares only become this cheap when risks are extremely high.



In times of extreme market volatility (and corrections), it is often unnecessary for investors to look far down the quality curve to find attractive opportunities that will generate significant returns in future. This is oftentimes the correct strategy as those economic uncertainties causing market volatility can have far more dire consequences for lower-quality businesses. This can make a company look inexpensive on the surface, but the upside might be limited as the business first has to struggle through an earnings trough, or raise equity to shore up its balance sheet which will, in turn, dilute current shareholder returns.



However, sometimes it is worth taking the risk. During market corrections, fundamentals are often ignored, and some market participants will sell a share at any price. It is at these prices where, we believe, the risk-return profile is so attractive that these counters deserve a small allocation in a diversified portfolio. These calculated risks may just turn out to be some of the best performers in an investor’s portfolio.



With that as background, we have scoured the SA market for some very exciting investment opportunities. We concede that these opportunities do come with some risks, whether it be debt, currency, regulation, liquidity or, in some cases, a combination of these factors, associated with them. Nevertheless, we believe that, at current valuation levels, the investor is more than compensated for such risks. So, put your hard hat on and prepare for some volatility although, at the end of the day, we are confident that a portfolio of these shares will reward investors handsomely.



MTN Group



If one were to draw up a list of countries where it is notoriously difficult to do business, and that also have extremely volatile regulatory and economic environments, the chances are that a large number of these nations will be among the 21 countries in which MTN operates. Initially, with major global mobile operators reluctant to enter these markets and regulations being fairly light, these countries held the appeal of attractive emerging market (EM) growth potential, with limited competition, for MTN. While this worked well in the beginning, over recent years MTN has appeared to stumble from one exogenous shock to the next – wars, extreme currency volatility, sanctions, exorbitant regulatory penalties and various lawsuits – but the company has weathered all these setbacks. MTN’s vulnerability to these exogenous events means that it is typically sold off, particularly aggressively during periods of risk aversion. This time around, the market sell-off was amplified by the collapse in the oil price, to which a number of MTN’s markets are vulnerable (especially Nigeria). With MTN’s share price falling below R40, the counter has now declined &gt;85% from its 2014 peak and it is currently trading at levels last seen in 2005.



In an industry where scale is critical, the significance of MTN being a top-two market share operator across all the markets in which it operates should not be underestimated. Where the telecommunications sector globally has largely been consigned by investors to the status of an ex-growth utility, MTN stands apart for several reasons. First, many of the Group’s markets still have further opportunities to increase penetration of mobile telecommunications and the potential to migrate those users to smart devices and drive data adoption. Second, while most developed market (DM) operators are confined to the provision of commoditised voice and data services, MTN is capitalising on opportunities to also add digital and mobile financial services.



Although MTN CEO, Rob Shuter has announced that he will be leaving the company at the end of his contract in one year’s time, he assembled a very competent management team during his tenure. Shuter has set the Group on a self-correction course. This includes the disposal of non-core assets, with proceeds being used to pay down debt (R14bn in sales were raised in the first year, with guidance of a further R25bn to be realised over the next few years) and paying particular attention to turning around some of the Group’s underperforming business units.



Since many of MTN’s new revenue streams do not require significant capital investment and are delivered through over-the-top platforms already in place, it has enabled the company to provide guidance of low double-digit revenue growth, margin expansion and relatively flat capital expenditure over the next 3-5 years. With the strong double-digit growth in free cash generation that this guidance implies, MTN is targeting annual dividend growth of 10%-20%.



Even at the bottom of the dividend guidance range, the prospective dividend yield is 15%, while the price as a multiple of expected earnings in 12 months’ time is 5x. No doubt, Brent Crude oil at below $30/bbl poses risk in the short term of foreign exchange availability and currency devaluation in Nigeria (MTN’s largest profit generator in FY19, accounting for c. 40% of group EBITDA). However, we are mindful of the oil industry saying, “the best cure for low oil prices, is low oil prices” and it is unlikely that the current situation will be sustained long term. At current levels, we believe there is now enough of a margin of safety in MTN’s share price to compensate for the risks it presents, with the potential for a strong recovery as current headwinds abate.



Investec



Over the past four decades, Stephen Koseff and Bernard Kantor created an institution. Built on the foundation of entrepreneurship and being agile and nimble to service its customers, the distinctive zebra logo became one of the most widely recognised symbols in SA financial markets.



In the early 2000s, Investec started to expand offshore with the UK being a key target market. Unfortunately, the UK’s highly competitive banking environment, ever more draconian and complex regulation and a global financial crisis (GFC) that hit just as Investec started to expand aggressively in the UK, made the experience far more lacklustre than the firm’s local successes. However, the company stayed the course, and, over time, Investec has built a strong UK presence.



Nevertheless, the UK remains a considerable drag on the Group’s profitability and ROE. Since the disastrous acquisition of Kensington in 2007 and the harsher regulatory environment post the 2008 GFC, Investec’s UK division has struggled to achieve a ROE greater than its cost of capital. This has resulted in Investec rightfully trading at a discount to its book value for significant periods since the GFC.



This discount to book value reached extremely low levels during the current sell-off, trading at close to 0.3x book. In addition, it coincides with some real positive changes taking root at Investec. The old guard has moved on and the new management team have taken decisive steps to improve the profitability of the bank.



Management unbundled the asset management division to make the structure less complex, committed to improving the cost-to-income ratio in the UK and promised that there were no sacrosanct segments of the business that will not be cut in the event of underperformance. We are still at the initial stages of the new regime and it will be interesting to see whether management can indeed improve the UK division’s ROE.



Although we acknowledge that Investec is not the highest-quality bank in the world and its earnings growth and ROE profile are far more volatile than its SA peers, we believe that the current share price provides an opportunity to enter at depressed multiples that more than sufficiently reflect the lower quality. And, the investor may yet benefit from an improvement in operating metrics as the new management team start their work.



Redefine



In recent years, many SA (and global) conservative investors squirrelled their savings away in property shares to earn an attractive, growing income. This bubble burst over the last few months and even the highest quality property companies have seen their value decimated. Selected YTD (to 25 March) declines among local property counters include Growthpoint (-45%), Redefine (-74%), Resilient (-46%), Nepi Rockcastle (-40%), Vukile (-63%), Attacq (-58%) and Hyprop (-60%). This follows already steep share price drops across the board in 2019.



The dire economic outlook for SA had already impacted Redefine’s share price hard when the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) hit and the whole property sector is now in crisis. These are unprecedented times and the world has changed in the last few weeks. Some tenants (especially in the retail sector) will earn little or no turnover for some time, and we have no doubt that they will want to renegotiate rentals with landlords. Some smaller tenants will go bankrupt. It is clear to us that the property sector will be reset after panic around the virus has subsided. Thus, the fate of many property companies is largely dependent on SA banks, who have very strong balance sheets and who, we believe, will be very co-operative in working with these companies to navigate the way through the current crisis. Although loan-to-value (LTV) ratio levels are all stated in the debt covenants for property companies, we think that the credit providers’ focus will turn from LTV ratios to interest cover, cash flow and sustainability. It is not in the interests of the banks to “pull the plug” on some of their biggest clients. We expect Redefine to work its way through this scenario together with the banks, with “reset” value emerging.



Management have acknowledged that they have no idea where rentals will settle, and they will largely depend on the health of the economy and the tenant. About 30% of retail turnover is from “safe” companies such as food retailers, cellphone companies and banks. Many office tenants will remain robust and industrial/logistics rentals will depend on tenant quality. So, it is not a disaster across the board, but months of hard negotiations will follow.



However, for investors, LTV ratios will remain a key metric and something which Redefine will have to address. At its last results presentation (FY19), Redefine had an LTV ratio of 43%. To highlight the spiral, if we assume the company had R100 of book value and R43 of debt – that 43% LTV is only just within its debt covenants. If the book value is written down by 25%, the LTV ratio goes up to 57%! Asset sales are usually a partial solution, but this looks increasingly unachievable. Withholding dividend payments becomes the next, and most likely, scenario. If a company can generate an 8% yield on book value (we are assuming no tax payable, which may be contentious), ploughing this back into debt repayments (as opposed to dividends), with a two-year dividend holiday, can reduce the LTV ratio from 57% to 41% – back into the covenant zone. We note that Redefine has already announced a delay in its interim dividend payment.



A big issue with withholding dividends is taxation. REIT (Real estate investment trust) legislation allows companies designated as such, to not pay tax and to distribute income to shareholders who receive the distribution as taxable income. If REITs do not distribute 75% of their income, then the current rules say they must pay tax on their income. We believe the property sector is in the process of negotiating with Treasury in an attempt to waive this rule – at least for a once-off time period.



We conclude that in a base-case scenario, the adjusted book value will be well below current book values, but higher than the share prices. We calculate that Redefine is fundamentally worth 50%-100% more than its current share price (unless Armageddon prevails!). But there is a high risk of shareholders not getting dividends for one, or even two, years. The share price is factoring in a far worse scenario than our base case. But investors should focus on the balance sheet and track closely the progress the firm makes in degearing.



There is a long road ahead, but we believe that, in the end, we will look back at this as a great opportunity to buy the share.



Northam Platinum



The platinum group metals (PGM) miners were the talking point of 2019. After being priced for bankruptcy in 2018, the price of the PGM basket recovered in 2019 resulting in the share prices of these miners rallying by 250% or more. The higher basket price helped these miners reduce their leverage with some of the mining companies going into a net cash position. It was a remarkable turnaround and highlighted just how cyclical the fortunes of these businesses are. Which begs the question, do you want to buy into such a cyclical industry in these uncertain times?



It is a fair question, and the answer very much depends on the risk tolerance of the investor. The reason why we are comfortable with a small position in Northam is due to the precarious demand-supply balance which the industry faced going into the COVID-19 crisis.



Prior to 2019, the threat of electric vehicles (EVs) caused the PGM basket price to remain below the breakeven price for mining companies and they battled to survive. Capital expenditure was cut across the board, with mining firms struggling to pay for maintenance capex, not to even mention expansionary capex.



Then, in 2019, the combination of a greater focus on carbon emission worldwide, the more enhanced testing after the VW scandal and the lack of R&amp;D in combustion engines over the preceding few years forced vehicle manufacturers to just add more and more PGMs in their respective catalytic converters as emission standards became more onerous. With the costs of PGMs &nbsp;a small fraction of the total vehicle production cost, they had the luxury to do this. Demand for these metals surged and the miners were not in a position to increase supply. This caused PGM prices to rally, with rhodium and palladium hitting all-time highs.



In our view, this situation will not change in the short- to medium-term, despite the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent decline in global vehicle sales. We expect demand to remain strong due to higher emission standards. Importantly, the threat of EVs, which are expected to be close to 50% of global vehicle sales by 2030, will prevent PGM miners from investing in new mines, thus keeping a constraint on the supply response.



Northam is one of the few PGM miners that will see strong volume growth over the next few years. Due to some tough decisions taken by management during the lean years, the company was able to shore up its balance sheet and it continued to invest in operations. As a result, we expect Northam’s annual production volumes to increase from c. 600k ounces this year to 1mn ounces over the next few years. Northam’s mines are also of a very high quality, operating at very low operating costs due to mechanisation. Trading at very attractive valuations and offering significant earnings (at spot PGM prices) and production growth, Northam is a high-quality operator in a very cyclical industry.



Alviva Holdings



Alviva Holdings is not an exciting company! But it is one of the Africa’s largest providers of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services. The Group has three business segments – ICT Distribution, which imports ICT hardware and software and sells it into sub-Saharan Africa via resellers, Services and Solutions, which provides system integration and ICT solution services, and Financial Services, which provides leasing finance to small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) for their ICT products.



The risks to this business are real. It is difficult to see Alviva continuing to operate in the same verticals and products as it is currently working, in five years’ time. This is due to the ever-changing industry in which it operates. For example, cloud storage and processing will, likely, fundamentally change the role ICT service providers play in the lives of their customers. To survive, ICT service providers will have to adapt their business models quickly and also ensure that they have a balance sheet strong enough to absorb any shocks.



We believe that Alviva has both these traits. It has a very experienced and conservative management team, which have navigated through some very turbulent times in the past and we maintain that management should be able to continue to do so in future. In addition, management have also been conserving cash. Over the past few years, they have adopted a very conservative dividend policy, paying out only 10% of earnings in dividends.



At our last engagement with management, they conceded that the operating environment is very tough at the moment, adding that they were very disappointed in the company’s performance but that it should improve in the second half. Management have guided that they will first look to retire around R400mn in preference shares, after which they will engage with shareholders regarding potential share buybacks. Admittedly, this was before the COVID-19 outbreak.



However, Alviva’s valuation is ridiculous – it is currently trading at a historic PE ratio of c. 2x and a normalised free cash flow yield of 50% (and we believe that we are being conservative here), so the risk-reward profile for investors is very much skewed to the upside. Liquidity is a concern and we highlight that investors should be patient if investing in this counter.

Our top share picks for the brave investor: Finding opportunities in times of adversity

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At the ongoing World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, CNBC International had a conversation with CEO of Volkswagen (VW), Herbert Diess on their current performance and future plans.

World Economic Forum: Volkswagen CEO on tech ventures

World Economic Forum: Volkswagen CEO on tech ventures, partnerships & future plans

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This week in the headlines in Rwanda, the VW’s launched the electric car, Moreover the first East and Central Africa Mining Forum took place here in the country and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation hosted the Hong Kong trade and investment seminar. TV and Multimedia Editor at The New Times, Olivia Ikilezi joins CNBC Africa for more on the news that made headlines in Rwanda this week.

VW’s electric car launched in Rwanda

Germany’s Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it would start assembling three vehicle models at a new plant in Rwanda in May for local sale and use in its own new ride-sharing service.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-40570 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vw__pixabay.jpg" alt="Volkswagen targets East Africa" width="960" height="640" />
The company said it planned to spend $20 million to start developing the assembly plant and ride-hailing service &#8211; part of a push into sub-Saharan Africa.
Thomas Schaefer, chief executive of Volkswagen Group South Africa, said they were trying to wean East African drivers off second-hand imports.
“We are trying to break this thought-pattern that Africa is poor; they can’t afford (new) cars,” he told a news conference.
Volkswagen will produce three models; the Hatchback Polo, the Passat and possibly the Teramont, a large sports utility vehicle, it said in a statement.
The carmaker said it had registered a local company to run its ride-sharing service and signed up a local software firm to develop a smartphone application to hail rides.
Global ride-sharing companies such as Uber have not yet moved into Rwanda.
Volkswagen said 500-1,000 jobs would be created in the first phase of the investment, including the drivers of the first batch of cars for the ride-hailing service.
Schaefer said the service will feed demand for the assembly plant, since vehicles in the scheme will be driven all the time, forcing the need for constant replacement.
There were 300,000 cars in Rwanda last year, in a country of 12 million people, the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, Clare Akamanzi, said as she welcomed the deal. Most of the cars on the roads are second-hand imports from countries such as Japan.
Writing by Duncan Miriri

Volkswagen to start Rwanda car assembly in May

Volkswagen AG suffered a new setback on Monday when an executive was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States over the company&#8217;s diesel emissions cheating and the automaker was accused of concealing the cheating from regulators.
Oliver Schmidt, who was general manager in charge of VW&#8217;s environmental and engineering office in Michigan, did not enter a plea at an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Miami on Monday and was ordered held pending a hearing on Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff.
Schmidt, who was shackled and wearing a jail uniform, was charged with fraud and conspiracy in not disclosing a cheating device used to rig U.S. diesel emissions tests from 2006 through 2015.
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He was arrested on Saturday in Florida after attempting to return to Germany from a vacation there, the Justice Department said. Schmidt&#8217;s lawyer David Massey said Schmidt had learned of the investigation and reached out to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to offer to cooperate. Schmidt then met with FBI agents in London last year, he said.
The arrest was first reported by the New York Times.
The arrest and court appearance come as VW nears a $3 billion plus &#8211; and potentially $4 billion &#8211; settlement with the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency to resolve civil and criminal investigations into the diesel scandal, which sources have told Reuters could be announced as soon as Wednesday. Talks are still under way about some details of the settlements and no deal has been reached, sources said.
An FBI complaint unsealed on Monday against Schmidt said he and other VW employees told executive management about the &#8220;existence, purpose and characteristics&#8221; of an emissions cheating device in July 2015, and that the executives chose not to immediately disclose it to U.S. regulators.
The FBI complaint accused VW of deliberately misleading regulators about cheating pollution tests in the United States, but did not charge the company with a crime.
Schmidt and other employees gave a presentation about the &#8220;defeat device&#8221; on or about July 27, 2015, more than a month before the automaker disclosed the device to U.S. regulators in September 2015, the complaint said.
The cheating allowed nearly 580,0000 of VW&#8217;s U.S. diesel vehicles sold since 2009 to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution levels.
&#8220;In the presentation, VW employees assured VW executive management that U.S. regulators were not aware of the defeat device,&#8221; the complaint said. &#8220;Rather than advocate for disclosure of the defeat device to U.S. regulators, VW executive management authorized its continued concealment.&#8221;
One slide in the presentation included &#8220;Indictment?&#8221; if regulators did not approve its diesel software for 2016 models, according to the complaint. The complaint said that in 2006 VW employees realized they would not be able to meet U.S. diesel emissions standard and decided to create cheating software.
Volkswagen said it could not comment on an ongoing legal matter. Hinrich Woebcken, VW&#8217;s chief executive of the North America region, told reporters at the Detroit auto show on Monday that the automaker was &#8220;surprised&#8221; by the criminal charge.
A U.S. VW employee, James Liang, was charged in September and pleaded guilty to misleading regulators about diesel emissions and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. His sentencing was delayed last week as prosecutors consider charging others, a court filing said.
LATEST SETBACK
The news comes as VW is trying to convince Americans it has changed its ways. The world&#8217;s second-largest automaker emphasized its focus on the U.S. market as it rolled out two new sport utility vehicles at the Detroit auto show, including a new longer Tiguan SUV with more cargo space and a larger all-new Atlas SUV that will be built in Tennessee.
&#8220;We intend to take that second chance,&#8221; Woebcken told reporters who joined VW in January 2016. &#8220;We are on a good path to get things straight&#8221; and added that VW is a &#8220;good corporate citizen.&#8221;
He said VW employs 600,000 people worldwide and they &#8220;are honest people&#8221; and that it was &#8220;unfortunate that a small group of people generated this disappointment.&#8221;
Much of the company&#8217;s senior management departed following the scandal, including CEO Martin Winterkorn.﻿
But the allegations in the FBI filing show how difficult it is proving for VW to draw a line under the biggest business scandal in its 80-year history almost 16 months after it broke.
On Monday, however, VW shares rose 4.2 percent to their highest since September 2015 on optimism about the expected U.S. criminal settlement, topping the German blue-chip DAX index. The shares are still 10 percent below pre-scandal levels.
VW admitted in September 2015 to installing the secret defeat device software in hundreds of thousands of U.S. diesel cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests and make them appear cleaner than they were on the road, and that up to around 11 million vehicles could have similar software installed worldwide.
The automaker initially blamed a small group of &#8220;rogue engineers&#8221; for the test-cheating, and has repeatedly said no current or former board members were involved.
The ensuing scandal has cost the company more than $18.9 billion in provisions and forced it to drop its diesel offensive in the United States. VW&#8217;s global brand chief Herbert Diess told reporters on Sunday the company has no plans to ever resume U.S. diesel sales.
VW has already agreed to spend up to $17.5 billion in the United States to address claims from regulators, dealers, and owners.
Separately on Monday, a British law firm launched legal action against VW seeking thousands of pounds of compensation each for UK drivers affected by the emissions scandal.
In Britain, 1.2 million cars are affected and Harcus Sinclair UK, which is being supported by Slater and Gordon, said around 10,000 drivers had already signed up to the legal action before the launch.﻿

VW

Volkswagen chief says German car giant will overtake Tesla on electric vehicle sales by 2025

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

Our top share picks for the brave investor: Finding opportunities in times of adversity

World Economic Forum: Volkswagen CEO on tech ventures, partnerships & future plans

VW’s electric car launched in Rwanda

Volkswagen to start Rwanda car assembly in May

U.S. charges Volkswagen executive with fraud over emissions scandal

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VW

Volkswagen chief says German car giant will overtake Tesla on electric vehicle sales by 2025

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

Our top share picks for the brave investor: Finding opportunities in times of adversity

World Economic Forum: Volkswagen CEO on tech ventures, partnerships & future plans

VW’s electric car launched in Rwanda

Volkswagen to start Rwanda car assembly in May

U.S. charges Volkswagen executive with fraud over emissions scandal

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