VOW.DE - Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
| Previous close | 128.40 |
| Open | 127.60 |
| Bid | 127.00 x 22300 |
| Ask | 127.30 x 61000 |
| Day's range | 124.60 - 129.50 |
| 52-week range | 99.16 - 185.00 |
| Volume | 113,140 |
| Avg. volume | 137,213 |
| Market cap | 61.692B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 1.63 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 4.82 |
| EPS (TTM) | 26.62 |
| Earnings date | 29 Apr 2020 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 4.80 (3.74%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 15 May 2019 |
| 1y target est | 195.40 |
- Bloomberg
VW Considers Options for Record $3.6 Billion Dividend
(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG is considering whether to pay out a record 3.3 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) dividend as planned, or use at least part of it to shore up its finances for what is shaping up to be the biggest economic crisis since World War II.Investors are entitled to the dividend and would be disappointed if it was delayed, cut or suspended, Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said in an video message to staff seen by Bloomberg.But VW is fighting to protect liquidity and tweaking the payout plan “wouldn’t be something entirely unusual,” Witter said last week. The “situation is fluid.”Global companies from Boeing Co. to HSBC Holdings Plc have slashed or postponed payouts since the coronavius pandemic began wreaking havoc across continents and economies. More than $56 billion of dividends have been scrapped by businesses in Western Europe and North America, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Western Europe another $40 billion has been temporarily postponed.A spokesman for VW said the company continues to monitor the situation. Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the investment vehicle of the Porsche and Piech family that controls a 53% voting stake in the world’s largest carmaker, declined to comment. VW’s profit and dividend are the only significant sources of income for the holding company.Public PerceptionPayouts to shareholders have drawn elevated public scrutiny during a time when governments and central banks are mustering unprecedented financial aid packages to prevent economic collapse. The outbreak has ground industrial output to a trickle as carmakers and other manufacturers halt production.The manufacturer has signaled it can endure production shutdowns in Europe and North America for several weeks without requiring German state-backed emergency funds, thanks to a robust cash pile and existing credit lines. VW’s net liquidity stood at 21.3 billion euros at the end of last year and the manufacturer has more than 20 billion euros available in unused credit lines.VW “remains one of the more defensive names in automotive manufacturing, in our view, supported by the automaker’s ability to withstand major economic shocks with only minor damage to credit ratings, akin to peer BMW,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joel Levington said in a report.Still, with the global economy on life support, and smaller parts suppliers fighting for survival, the timeframe for a market recovery remains uncertain. Daimler AG’s first-quarter auto sales worldwide declined by 15%, the maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars said Wednesday. The Chinese and South Korean markets are gradually recovering as the spread of the virus slows in the region and stay-at-home orders are loosened.Daimler CFO Harald Wilhelm told analysts on Wednesday the dividend proposal still remains unchanged, but he signaled it could be reviewed at some stage as the manufacturer is “looking at everything” to safeguard liquidity.Halting production in Europe and North America costs VW about 2 billion euros per week. Some 80,000 of its German workers are on state wage support for reduced working hours. Under the scheme, the state funds the payments from unemployment insurance contributions employees and companies made in the past.Explaining Kurzarbeit, or Saving Jobs the German Way: QuickTakeThe dividend proposal for 2019, put forward on Feb. 28, would see holders of VW’s widely traded preferred stock receive 6.56 euros for each share held. Common shares would draw 6.50 euros each. The plan would push the payout ratio to 24.5% of net profit from the previous 20.4%.VW generated 13.3 billion euros in after tax earnings attributable to shareholders last year, implying a payout of about 3.3 billion euros. Shareholder approval is still pending and an annual general meeting scheduled for May 7 was postponed.German luxury-car rival BMW AG left its dividend proposal unchanged in documents filed Monday ahead of its own May 14 annual general meeting, set to be an online gathering without physical presence of investors. Like VW, BMW hasn’t tapped state-backed emergency funds, but put about 20,000 German employees on short-term work(Adds Daimler CFO comment on dividend in 10th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Yahoo Finance UK
German car industry's export prospects bleakest since 2009
Plants shuttered, workers stood down, and a lack of demand has carmakers feeling pessimistic.
- Reuters - UK Focus
UK car sector slashes 2020 sales forecast by 23% due to coronavirus
- Bloomberg
Germany Expects Economy to Shrink More Than 5% on Virus Hit
(Bloomberg) -- Germany faces a deeper recession than during the financial crisis, as the coronavirus pandemic shuts down large parts of Europe’s biggest economy.The impact on 2020 growth from measures to contain the virus could be “as strong, or even stronger” than the 5% contraction caused by the sovereign-debt emergency in 2008 and 2009, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said Thursday in Berlin. National output could shrink for some months in the first half by more than 8%, with the biggest slump likely in May, he added.“That means that after 10 years of good economic growth we will again experience a recession this year,” said Altmaier. “It’s the first since 2009, and we want it to be a temporary one and that it’s quickly put behind us and the economy emerges stronger.”In the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by the spread of the deadly disease, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government was widely expected to slash its forecast from the pre-crisis prediction of 1.1% growth.Germany’s efforts to limit the fallout are advancing, as aid applications pour in and officials seek a path to restart all-important auto production. Altmaier also underscored the government’s commitment to revive growth once the outbreak subsides.Under a government program aimed to providing strapped businesses with financial liquidity, 2,500 companies have requested a total of 10.6 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in support, according to state development bank KfW.“In such a situation, in which companies are really experiencing a massive collapse in sales, there is certainly a measure of panic in the air,” said Guenther Braeunig, head of the bank. He expects a “significant increase” in applications in the next few weeks.Merkel’s government secured emergency spending powers to unleash a historic rescue package that totals more than 750 billion euros, including social benefits, loans and guarantees for businesses and funds to take stakes in stricken companies.As aid starts to flow, Merkel -- still in precautionary quarantine at home -- turned her attention to the country’s critical auto sector, speaking with executives and industry heavyweights late Wednesday on how and when to restart factories. The meeting comes amid growing concern that some cash-strapped suppliers may not survive the pandemic’s fallout.The country can ill afford a prolonged shutdown of its car industry, which employs more than 800,000 people and is a key indicator of industrial health in Europe’s largest economy. Volkswagen AG currently burns through 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) per week as most of its sites sit idle.As VW, Daimler AG and BMW AG halt production, the disruptions have ripple effects on the hundreds of companies that make components from screws to seat cushions. Many of these firms are small, family-owned entities that lack deep financial resources, putting them particularly at risk.While Germany has set up a series of measures to aid companies, the concern is the support won’t reach many smaller, cash-strapped suppliers quickly enough to keep them afloat.These firms are critical for the finely-tuned supply chain and widespread bankruptcies would be a disaster, Continental AG’s Chief Executive Officer Elmar Degenhart told reporters on Wednesday, after the auto-parts giant abandoned its earnings outlook over the coronavirus.Despite the risks in the coming, Altmaier offered an optimistic outlook going forward, saying Germany could be in position for “decent growth” next year and that the government planned spending to get the economy back on track.“We all want to be able to get things going again after the health crisis has passed,” he said. “For that, we will need more than the aid package we have put together. We need a fitness program, a growth program, and we will work toward that together in the government.”(Updates with additional comments and context beginning in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-At the open: Oil stocks surge, no rebound for banks
You can share your thoughts with Thyagaraju Adinarayan (thyagaraju.adinarayan@thomsonreuters.com), Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London. Oil and gas stocks are leading European bourses today amid surging oil prices and hopes Saudi Arabia and Russia could soon reach a deal to end their price war. The sector is up over 5% and lifting the broader indexes thanks to heavyweight majors such Royal Dutch Shell gaining close to 9%.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-On the radar: Textbook corporate coronavirus headlines
You can share your thoughts with Thyagaraju Adinarayan (thyagaraju.adinarayan@thomsonreuters.com), Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London. In the meantime, it’s 'same old' in terms of corporate news this morning in Europe with another batch of dividend cuts, executive bonus cuts (Daimler, Sodexo) , guidance dropped and job/production freezes (Volkswagen in Mexico). One of the most spectacular headline on the latter is British Airways expected to announce suspension of about 36,000 of its employees.
- Reuters
Volkswagen extends Mexico production halt as coronavirus bites
German automaker Volkswagen said on Wednesday it would extend until April 30 a suspension of activities at two production plants in central Mexico after the government declared a health emergency because of coronavirus. Volkswagen is among manufacturers worldwide who are responding to a fall in demand, as well as supply chain challenges following measures taken to rein in the pandemic. Volkswagen said it would continue to pay employees during the suspension.
- Bloomberg
China Weighs Cuts to Electric-Car Subsidies It Just Extended
(Bloomberg) -- China, the biggest market for electric cars, is considering a reduction in rebates given to buyers and limits on the models that qualify even as it commits to extending the costly subsidy program for another two years.The country’s state council said Tuesday it would extend rebates on electric vehicles until 2022 to support the industry as the coronavirus pandemic hobbles demand. But various government bodies are in discussions over reducing the incentives by 10% later in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter. They’re also in talks to narrow the universe of cars that qualify for the discounts, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.A reduction in subsidies could temper benefits for the likes of Tesla Inc. and Volkswagen AG, which are counting on the world’s biggest auto market to buoy sales. Electric-car manufacturers are already facing a host of challenges, from the global pandemic to the plunge in oil prices, which makes internal-combustion vehicles cheaper to drive.The subsidy plans show the balancing act China’s government is facing as it works to bring the economy back from the debilitating blow the coronavirus delivered early this year. With manufacturing sliding the most on record in February, industries are clamoring for state support.In its bid to become a leader in new-energy vehicles, China has maintained a significant subsidy program for over a decade and was in the process of rolling some of the support back to allow the industry to become more independent when the virus hit.NIO shares fell 4.7% in New York Wednesday.China’s auto industry has been hit particularly hard in the wake of the coronavirus, with weekly car sales at one point plummeting 96%. Now it’s Europe and the U.S.’s turn. Manufacturers across both regions have shuttered factories after governments imposed restrictions to stem the spread of the virus.New-vehicle registrations in France and Spain plunged by more than two-thirds in March from a year earlier, figures released Wednesday show. Several brands in the U.S. reported more than 40% declines for the month.Industry SlumpChina began subsidizing EV purchases in 2009 to promote the industry but has been gradually reducing handouts in the past few years to encourage automakers to compete on their own. The government had planned to phase them out completely at end of this year.But cutbacks that took effect last summer triggered the first downturn in the country’s EV industry, and the pandemic has only worsened the slump.The government bodies involved in the talks -- the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission -- didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment or referred queries elsewhere.China PlantChina is a centerpiece of Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s automotive ambitions. The company began delivering China-built Model 3s to local consumers in January. Constructing the plant near Shanghai was key to unlocking a greater share of the market by qualifying its cars for subsidies and more favorable tax treatment.While Tesla’s registrations have been slow out of the gate, much of the weakness can probably by chalked up to seasonality and the impact the virus has had on the whole industry.General Motors Co. also has high hopes -- and a lot of cash -- riding on China’s EV market. The automaker announced early last month that it’s investing $20 billion into electric and self-driving vehicles by 2025. Some of its battery-powered models already are hitting showrooms in China ahead of the U.S., where federal incentives for its plug-in cars are shrinking.President Donald Trump also just completed a three-year effort to ease fuel-efficiency rules, which will make it easier for companies like GM to meet environmental standards that the Obama administration envisioned giving EVs a boost.VW Electric PushChina is a critical market for German auto giants VW, Daimler AG and BMW AG in terms of profits and sales. VW, the world’s top-selling automaker, is gearing its global electric-car push this year by starting production of purely battery-powered cars at two new factories in China.Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, has introduced the EQC electric SUV and plans to expand its lineup of purely battery-powered vehicles to at least 10 in coming years with China being one of the key markets.The company has also folded its Smart city-car brand into a joint venture with its largest shareholder Geely, which will be based in China and make zero-emission subcompact cars for global markets.(Updates with NIO shares in the sixth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
China sales seen picking up after coronavirus blow: Volkswagen
Volkswagen expects vehicle sales in China, the world's largest car market, to quadruple in March, it said, pointing to a recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. "We are cautiously optimistic that the worst effects of the crisis will be behind us in two to three months," said Stephan Woellenstein, head of Volkswagen's China business. Demand was still limited, Volkswagen said, adding it was prepared to ramp up capacity at its plants in the country, 22 of which had resumed production.
- Reuters
China sales seen picking up after coronavirus blow - Volkswagen
Volkswagen expects vehicle sales in China, the world's largest car market, to quadruple in March, it said, pointing to a recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. "We are cautiously optimistic that the worst effects of the crisis will be behind us in two to three months," said Stephan Woellenstein, head of Volkswagen's China business. Demand was still limited, Volkswagen said, adding it was prepared to ramp up capacity at its plants in the country, 22 of which had resumed production.
- Zacks
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: HP, Stratasys, Ford and Volkswagen
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: HP, Stratasys, Ford and Volkswagen
- Bloomberg
Protectionism Goes Local in Towns, States Battling Virus
(Bloomberg) -- The Covid-19 pandemic has already precipitated nationalist calls to repatriate supply lines for everything from masks and surgical gowns to ventilators. But we may be about to see protectionism going local. In the U.S., the competition for new gear in the face of a surge of cases has state and municipal governments scrambling to obtain all of those things and officials complaining that the federal government is making things worse. The barriers to internal travel are also going up. President Donald Trump, who has clashed with state governors, backed away from a plan to impose a federal quarantine on the states of New York, and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut over the weekend. But some states are already taking things into their own hands. Florida reportedly set up roadblocks on Interstate 95 to turn away New Yorkers at the state border. Rhode Island threatened to do the same before backing away and deciding simply to hunt down New Yorkers on its beaches for failing to self-isolate when they entered the state.It’s not just a state-level phenomenon. The New York Post last week reported that year-round residents in the Hamptons have revolted against a new influx of part-time refugees from New York City. The same push against the privileged apparently is being seen in Europe, according to the New York Times.For its part, the European Union is trying to lean against internal trade curbs. In return for restricting the export of personal protective equipment outside the EU in mid-March, the bloc’s member nations were asked to ease restrictions on the sale of such gear inside the 27-nation economy.There are good public health reasons for localism. No one wants to see the virus spread from urban centers to rural areas with few hospital beds and far more tenuous food-supply chains, as one local politician from Oregon pointed out last week in the Washington Post.But there may be economic consequences for all of this. What if we experience a further fracturing of supply lines as the pandemic grows? What if it’s not just international commerce that shuts down, but intra-national trade as well? There have been moments when G-7 and G-20 leaders have come together in recent weeks to proclaim the need for a common front to take on Covid-19. Everywhere, world leaders are appealing for national unity. A G-20 call with trade ministers Monday is a good place to start.There are signs also that for all the nationalism now in the air, governments are cooperating. A shipment of medical equipment from China landed in New York over the weekend. The federal government in the U.S. is shipping ventilators and protective equipment to state and local governments. But it’s not unreasonable these days to imagine a day when a need for ventilators in Michigan or Indiana provokes a push by local politicians to compel carmakers like Ford and GM — now venturing into the business of making the machines — to prioritize local communities. Or a local government in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg from pressuring BMW or VW from doing the same. There is no doubt that globalization and international supply chains are under assault during this pandemic. Fear is a real thing. But before long, federalism and nationalism could be as well. All politics are local, the saying goes. Pandemics may by definition be anything but local. That doesn’t mean, though, the urges of politicians and their constituents won’t be. Charting the Trade TurmoilUrgent demand for medical equipment to fight the coronavirus has sent the cost of chartered aircraft skyrocketing, turning a usually humdrum process into a competitive auction.Today’s Must Reads Chain links | The pandemic is playing out in ways that few companies could have prepared for. But despite the shocks, the system should continue to function even under heavy strain, according to researchers of supply-chain logistics. Maine problem | Republican Senator Susan Collins called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to temporarily defer tariffs for U.S. companies that are suffering economic hardship. Food security | The Philippines identified additional measures to ensure sufficient food supply amid a month-long lockdown of the country’s main island. Meanwhile, empty shipping containers are piling up in Manila. Machine orders | The Pentagon’s logistics agency has modified an existing contract and will spend $84.4 million to buy 8,000 ventilators from four vendors, with first delivery of 1,400 by early May. Inside look | Newly revealed details show that General Motors has been continuously engaged in the effort to build emergency ventilators. It’ll take about a month to ramp up. Grain hoarding | Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, proposed limiting grain shipments to protect its own food security in the face of the spreading pandemic.Bloomberg AnalysisWork week | Bloomberg Economics says China’s back-to-work rate edged up to around 90%. Supply shortages | Disinfectants and sanitizers that help fight the virus may be absent from store shelves for weeks. Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows. See BNEF for BloombergNEF’s analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters - UK Focus
RPT-COLUMN-Collapsing auto sector a body blow for industrial metals: Andy Home
The decision is due to a "strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive sector, in a context of sharply lower metal prices," the company said. Lead is umbilically tied to the automotive sector. Collapsing automotive production and sales are generating a demand shock that is travelling up the value chain through parts suppliers to metals fabricators and on to metal producers such as Recylex.
- Yahoo Finance UK
Coronavirus: Car industry pivot to ventilators isn't the miracle solution to global shortfall
With a wealth of 3-D printing capabilities and production power, governments have been reaching out to the car industry for support.
- Bloomberg
VW CEO Says Production Shutdown Costs $2.2 Billion Per Week
(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG’s unprecedented move to halt output on both sides of the Atlantic costs the world’s largest automaker 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) per week, and Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said decisive action is critical to overcome the coronavirus pandemic.Sales outside China have effectively come to a standstill, while demand in the country, VW’s largest single market, has clawed back to about 50% of pre-crisis levels, Diess said during a panel discussion broadcast by ZDF late Thursday.VW can endure the factory shutdowns in Europe and the Americas for several weeks, “but not indefinitely,” Diess said. The company is in a strong financial position, but he didn’t rule out “structural measures” if the crisis drags on for many months or even years in a worst-case scenario.“Even for the financially strong company Volkswagen, the current exceptional situation represents an acute economic danger,” Diess, Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, and works council chief Bernd Osterloh said Friday in a joint letter to workers. Last year, VW generated 50 million euros in profit daily, money that’s “urgently needed” to fund investments in new technology and products, they added. Recouping incurred losses will be difficult and take a long time, “much longer than the coronacrisis itself. And with every crisis day, it’s becoming more difficult,” the top executives said in the letter seen by Bloomberg.In a separate interview, Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said that, as things stand, VW won’t need financial support from the German government, beyond tapping into cash for employees on short-time work.“Seen from today’s perspective, I rule that out,” Witter told Boersen-Zeitung newspaper Friday. “In the car unit, we have strong cash flow and decent net liquidity.”Witter flagged what he called a “significant network of confirmed, partly syndicated credit lines” of more than 30 billion euros. “Using these instruments, we should have the strength to get through the corona crisis and maintain liquidity at the necessary level,” Witter said.“The threat of the coronavirus is more punitive to auto credit quality than the Great Recession,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joel Levington said in a note. “Credit profiles can be swiftly decimated during global auto-sector downturns,” he said.Diess stressed that strict discipline in following medical advice is key to fighting the spread of the virus and said VW is already preparing to resume operations. These efforts include intensified sanitary measures and ensuring more distance between employees in work spaces.He’s “confident” VW can roll out its important ID.3 electric car this summer as planned but said that business conditions overall remain difficult to predict.VW shares dropped 8% to 116.85 euros as of 3:00 p.m. in Frankfurt, amid a regional decline in share prices across Europe.(Updates with comments from letter to employees in fourth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Volkswagen's Skoda extends Czech factory outages to April 14
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of the Volkswagen Group , will extend a stoppage at its domestic plants to April 14 from an original return date of April 6, the company said on Friday. Skoda is the country's largest exporter and suspended production on March 18 as part of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus that has put most of Europe on lockdown. VW, the world's biggest carmaker, has stopped production at other factories across Europe as the coronavirus pandemic hits sales and disrupts supply chains.
- Reuters - UK Focus
LIVE MARKETS-On the radar: dividend, capex and guidance cuts
You can share your thoughts with Thyagaraju Adinarayan (thyagaraju.adinarayan@thomsonreuters.com), Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London. While Wall Street’s overnight rally and a positive session in Asia may give traders some comfort, European futures this morning are anything but reassuring. U.S. futures are also down about 1.5%.
- Reuters
Volkswagen burning through $2.2 billion a week as coronavirus halts production - CEO
Volkswagen may have to cut jobs if the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control as the carmaker is still spending about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) a week, Chief Executive Herbert Diess told German TV channel ZDF. Diess told the Markus Lanz talkshow that the German company, which employs 671,000 people worldwide, was not making any sales outside China and was looking for ways to resume production elsewhere that wouldn't endanger its staff. Demand in China is picking up again but production is only at half the level prior to the crisis, he said.
- Reuters
Volkswagen burning through $2.2 billion a week as coronavirus halts production: CEO
Volkswagen may have to cut jobs if the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control as the carmaker is still spending about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) a week, Chief Executive Herbert Diess told German TV channel ZDF. Diess told the Markus Lanz talkshow that the German company, which employs 671,000 people worldwide, was not making any sales outside China and was looking for ways to resume production elsewhere that wouldn't endanger its staff. Demand in China is picking up again but production is only at half the level prior to the crisis, he said.
- Reuters
Volkswagen extends production halt as demand sinks and supply chains falter
Volkswagen , the world's biggest carmaker, said on Thursday that it will extend stops to production in Germany as it deals with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. The German carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, said that it was responding to weakening demand and supply chain disruptions. The extension of four days until April 9 involves all its German plants for Volkswagen passenger cars, commercial vehicles and components.
- Reuters
Volkswagen expects car market to recover in summer: FAZ
Volkswagen expects the German car market to recover in the summer after the automaker was forced to suspend output because of the coronavirus pandemic, an executive told a newspaper on Wednesday. The company has initially halted production until April 3, but Juergen Stackmann, management board member for the VW passenger cars brand, gave an upbeat assessment to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, saying that the Chinese market has already started to pick up. Volkswagen is also looking into new rules to ensure factory workers can keep their distance from each other on the production line.
