Wolfsburg: Volkswagen is more focused on its multi-billion-euro shift towards electric vehicles and transport services than any potential sale of motorcycle brand Ducati or transmissions maker Renk, its head of strategy said.
Analysts and bankers have been expecting Europe’s biggest carmaker to sell assets soon to help meet the cost of its diesel emissions test cheating scandal, which has already reached as much as $25bn. But Thomas Sedran (pictured) said the German company was in no hurry to make divestments, which are opposed by its powerful labor unions, pointing to the group’s strong financial performance despite the “dieselgate” scandal.
“It’s much more important to discuss which new business fields the company will enter. Divestments are less relevant,” he said.
“Big decisions like how to expand or optimise the business portfolio of a global company need time and have to be developed by consensus. For Volkswagen, the topic of the business portfolio is very important but not time critical,” he said.
