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U.S.
District Judge Charles Breyer last month turned up the heat on
Volkswagen (VW) by setting a March 24 deadline to the carmaker
to state whether it has found a fix that is acceptable to U.S.
regulators.
VW lawyer Robert Giuffra told Breyer at the Feb. 25 hearing that
the carmaker was making progress in trying to reach a settlement
with the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency
and California Resources Board.
But Diess, in an interview with German regional newspaper
Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung published on Saturday, said it
may take months rather than weeks for to reach a settlement.
"I believe we have good chances to achieve an agreement with the
authorities in the United States in the next months," the
executive said.
Europe's largest automaker has said previously it was
considering buying back cars as part of a settlement, a move
that could cost it billions.
Separately, Diess reinforced calls for further cost cuts at VW's
biggest division by sales and revenue, saying the brand must
improve profitability to be able to afford new technologies and
compete with rivals in the digital age.
"The Volkswagen brand still has some work to do to become more
profitable in coming years," he said. "We will not get a second
chance."
Diess wants to cede more powers to regional operations and
streamline vehicle development as part of a 12-point plan to
increase cost savings and ready the brand for the arrival of
electric and autonomous mobility.
He is expected to outline his plans before thousands of workers
at a staff gathering at VW's base in Wolfsburg on Tuesday,
alongside Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, labor boss Bernd
Osterloh and Lower Saxony premier Stephan Weil.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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