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Berlin - Volkswagen sank into its first quarterly loss in more than 20 years on Wednesday as it faces up to the mounting costs resulting from an exhaust emissions scandal that has rocked Europe's biggest carmaker.
The embattled German auto group reported on Wednesday a third quarter operating loss of €3.48bn, compared with a €3.23bn in the same period last year.
Analysts surveyed by dpa-AFX had forecast a loss of €3.27bn for the three months that ended in September.
VW was also forced to set aside €6.7bn to cover the costs of the scandal, which was triggered by the group's admission last month that it had installed software in its diesel-powered vehicles aimed at evading emissions test around the world.
"VW did some things that were wrong," said VW brand chief Herbert Diess at the Tokyo Motor Show.
"On behalf of our entire company I would like to apologise sincerely," said Diess, according to the Nikkei business daily.
Still, VW shares jumped more than 3% in early trading in Frankfurt after reports showed that third quarter group turnover climbed to a higher-than-forecast €51.5bn, from €48.9bn last year.
Analysts had forecast turnover of €50.7bn in the third quarter.
The gain in the group shares helped the stock to recover some of the big losses it incurred after the carmaker warned last month that about 11 million of its vehicles around the world were equipped with the emissions' cheating software.
Prosecutors in several of VW's major markets are considering legal action against the group as it prepares to launch in January a costly recall of vehicles that had been fitted with the software. That is expected to take until the end of the year to complete.
"We will do our utmost to regain lost trust," said VW chief executive Matthias Mueller, who took over the post after his predecessor, Martin Winterkorn, stood down to take responsibility for the scandal.
Based in the northern German city of Wolfsburg, the VW group said it now expected its operating profit to fall "significantly below" last year's record of €12.7bn.
Adding to VW's woes, Wednesday's figures also showed a slump in business in its key Chinese market following a slowdown in the Asian economy.
China's contribution to VW's results during the first nine months of the year was nearly 4% lower than in the same period last year, VW said.
The scandal also threatens to cast a shadow over the 12 brands comprising the VW group, which includes luxury sports car maker Porsche, the premium brand Audi, as well as the core VW brand.
Group deliveries slipped 1.5% in September to 885 300 cars as details of the emissions scandal emerged. Third quarter deliveries dropped 3.4% to 2.39 million cars.
The global slump in deliveries resulted in VW losing its throne as the world's leading carmarker to Japanese rival Toyota, according to nine-month sales figures released this week.
Porsche also said on Wednesday that it had been forced to sharply revise downward its 2015 profit forecast in the wake of what is the VW group's biggest crisis in its 78-year history.
After-tax profit should come in between €800m and €1.8bn this year, Porsche said, a decline from the €3bn of after-tax profit it reported in 2014. It also cut its outlook.
However, excluding the costs of the emissions scandal, VW said it still expects group operating margin to come in between 5.5 and 6.5% this year, compared to 6.3% in 2014.
