Volkswagen shares surge on CO2 all-clear

Volkswagen shares climbed yesterday as it all but eliminated one front in the pollution scandal that has plagued the car maker for nearly three months, after the company’s suspicions of illegal discrepancies in carbon-dioxide emissions proved unfounded.

Only “slight deviations” were found in a fraction of the 800,000 cars involved in the CO2 investigation, the Wolfsburg-based company said yesterday.

While there may be a “minor economic impact” from the issue, Volkswagen said it no longer faces potential damages of as much as €2 billion.

The shares closed up 6.2%, the most since late last month, in Frankfurt.

The news provides a welcome backdrop for chief executive Matthias Mueller as he prepares for his first extended press conference on the matter.

The executive is due to brief today on the status of the investigation into cheating on diesel emissions.

#BREAKING Volkswagen says carbon emission claims proven to be unfounded

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 9, 2015

In September, it admitted to duping regulators by installing technology in 11m cars worldwide that turned on full pollution controls only during tests.

While the findings of the CO2 probe is positive for VW, “there is no link to the emission cheating issue at diesel engines,” said Michael Punzet, an analyst with DZ Bank in Frankfurt.

“We remain sceptical on VW as we still expect a negative mid-term impact on sales, refinancing and pricing.”

Volkswagen’s crisis appeared to deepen in November after it said it may have misrepresented carbon-dioxide emissions.

The issue was potentially even more expensive and complicated because it affected petrol cars and there’s no fix, opening it up to compensating customers and tax authorities.

“The suspicion that the fuel consumption figures of current production vehicles had been unlawfully changed was not confirmed,” Volkswagen said.

The company, which has set aside €6.7bn for recalls of diesel cars, is nearing regulatory approval for a low-cost fix for 8.5m cars in Europe.