According to Bloomberg, Volkswagen shares dropped to a record low level for the last 7 years. The brutal decline happened after the car manufacturer’s executives admitted to cheating on US air pollution tests. Now the company is to face a backlash from the US consumers and several billion dollars in fines.
It is reported that Volkswagen shares plunged as much as 22% in one trading session to 126.40 euros per share which is the greatest intraday fall since 2008. At the same time, the market value of the company slumped by 16 billion euros to 60.4 billion.
Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said that the company is actively cooperating with the probe and is going to start its own investigation in the short term. Martin Winterkorn also emphasized that he is deeply sorry for breaking the public’s trust and that Volkswagen would do everything necessary in order to reverse the damage this has caused.
In the nearest future, Volkswagen supervisory board is set to come up with the question of Martin Winterkorn’s contract renewal. Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst at Evercore ISI says that the recent events might be a great obstacle for the career of the incumbent Volkswagen CEO.
