Volkswagen has to do more to gain back the confidence of investors following its emissions scandal, in spite of a quick recovery in revenues, several investors informed the German automaker at its annual meeting on Wednesday.
The world’s largest automaker reported first-quarter profits and has revealed a raft of strategies to recover from the biggest business crisis in its history, consisting of expense cuts and investment in cleaner vehicles.
However some shareholders stated its emissions test cheating on diesel motor would continue to haunt it for several years if it did not release the results of an investigation into the scandal, address claims and enhance corporate governance.
“I am surprised and speechless, that held true at the time and it still is today,” stated Gerd Kuhlmeyer, head of staff investors group Community of VW, describing the scandal. “An end of ongoing investigation proceedings and possible further results is not in sight.”
Volkswagen has agreed to invest up to $25 billion in the United States to resolve claims from owners, ecological regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 contaminating U.S. vehicles.
But it still faces billions of euros in claims from about 3,500 consumer lawsuits and about 2,000 suits globally.
The German group, which is securely managed by its founding households and home state of Lower Saxony, declined calls by Kuhlmeyer and other investors for it to release the outcomes of a company-commissioned investigation by U.S. law office Jones Day into the scandal, stating it could not for legal reasons.
