VW Could Pay Out $86 Billion For Dieselgate

2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI engine (Credit: Volkswagen)

People are talking about the potential for VW to fall into complete financial ruin. The fallout from Volkswagen’s Dieselgate seems to be getting worse and worse with each passing moment. First, the company was facing stiff fines and irate customers in the United States, then it was facing action from numerous governments around the world. And now, a new report from CNN Money says that the whole scandal could cost the automaker $86 billion.

That’s billion, not million.

It’s a huge, bitter pill for Volkswagen to swallow, one that could lead to the ultimate demise of the company. At least, that possibility is being thrown around right now, and it’s not completely unreasonable to consider.

Just a short while ago, VW was still plotting how it was going to take over the world, becoming the biggest automaker around. The United States was the big sticking spot, where Volkswagens weren’t selling so well, but TDIs were a bright spot. Now, all of that has been washed away.

This huge $86 billion figure isn’t coming out of thin air. Reportedly, Credit Suisse whipped up the number, warning investors that the other much lower estimates that have been floating around are grossly inaccurate. Among the financial risks the organization says others haven’t been accounting for is the possibility that Volkswagen will have to reimburse customers for damages. Considering that millions of VWs have been affected by Dieselgate, which could get really expensive really fast.

For those who don’t know, Credit Suisse is a multination financial services holding company. When it speaks about these kinds of issues, plenty of people listen. The only thing this spells for VW is trouble, lots of trouble. When this article was written, VW stock was dropping like a rock, which will make it even harder for the automaker to climb out of this hole it dug.

The really unfortunate outcome of this whole scenario is that TDI owners are watching the value of their cars absolutely plummet. Just when everyone was thinking things couldn’t get worse, they are.