Up To $87 Billion!
Credit Suisse, the huge Swiss financial institution, has estimated the cost of the Volkswagen diesel debacle may run from a low of $25-billion to a high of $87-billion. Volkswagen disagrees.
Forbes estimates that the market capitalization of Volkswagen Group is $126-billion. I'm no financial genius but if Credit Suisse is anywhere near correct VW is in trouble.
No one, not even VW it seems, knows for sure how this fiasco is going to be resolved. Can VW come up with a software fix? And if so how will the vehicle owners react if it seriously lowers the fuel economy? What if VW has to buy back all those vehicles?
As I said before this may well be catastrophic for the world auto industry. Volkswagen Group is, or was, the world's largest auto manufacturer producing Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and of course Volkswagen.
There were rumors that other manufacturers may have fiddled to get better fuel economy numbers while passing pollution tests but so far only VW is in the cross-hairs.
Do I really believe that VW will fail as a result of all of this? No. I have no idea how they will get out of the mess they created but I think they will. Time will tell.
Forbes estimates that the market capitalization of Volkswagen Group is $126-billion. I'm no financial genius but if Credit Suisse is anywhere near correct VW is in trouble.
No one, not even VW it seems, knows for sure how this fiasco is going to be resolved. Can VW come up with a software fix? And if so how will the vehicle owners react if it seriously lowers the fuel economy? What if VW has to buy back all those vehicles?
As I said before this may well be catastrophic for the world auto industry. Volkswagen Group is, or was, the world's largest auto manufacturer producing Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and of course Volkswagen.
There were rumors that other manufacturers may have fiddled to get better fuel economy numbers while passing pollution tests but so far only VW is in the cross-hairs.
Do I really believe that VW will fail as a result of all of this? No. I have no idea how they will get out of the mess they created but I think they will. Time will tell.
Comments
Other than that quibble, your usual good commentary on a slippery situation.
Michael Coates