Volkswagen, for the first time in 15 years, has faced a quarterly loss following its emission tests scandal. After VW admitted to installing an illegal software in 11 million of its cars to evade emissions standards, its stocks have plummeted to a historic low.

The company recorded an operating profit before special items at 3,206 million euros (AU$4954.17 million) in this quarter, whereas last year it had recorded 3,230 million euros (AU$4991.25 million). The profit recorded to Volkswagen AG shareholders also dropped drastically. This quarter recorded 1,731 million euros (AU$2674.88 million) while last year’s same quarter had acquired 2,928 million euros (AU$4524.58 million).

VW, in an attempt to cover the fine and charges, had set aside 6.7 billion euros (AU$10.37 billion). As a result, the company was left with a pre-tax loss of 2.52 billion euros (AU$3.91 billion) at the end of its third quarter. However, chief financial officer Frank Witter said this amount didn’t cover the compensation that would be made to the customers. "The financial burden is enormous but manageable ... but we will emerge stronger and leaner than ever before," he was quoted by BBC as saying.

Following the announcement of the loss on Wednesday, Volkswagen shares jumped 3.2 percent. It was considered the best-performing stock on the German Dax 30 index in the first hour of trade and the company remains positive about its sales this year.

VW’s new CEO Matthias Müller said the company could manage to pull off the scandal within three years under new management policies and structure, reported Reuters. In addition, he stated that he would keep all investors updated with new strategies and plans. The company said it has been expecting the operating margin to remain between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent, a little lesser than last year’s 6.3 percent.

It also plans to cut down investment by $1.55 billion per year, which would result in the recall of 5 million cars. Audi, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of its profits, has also decided to decrease investments.

Back in September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA had found that Volkswagen was using illegal software to turn on cars’ full emissions control system when it detected an emissions testing.

The controls remained turned off when the cars were normally driven, which allowed large quantities of pollution to be emitted rapidly. The EPA estimated that the cars could belch 40 times more pollution than mentioned in the Clean Air Act, with the pollutants capable of causing serious health problems, including asthma attacks, other respiratory diseases and premature death.

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