Despite having been caught out lying to the world about its emissions tests and suffering enormous losses as a result, German auto giant Volkswagen feels flush enough to be offering bonuses.
Staff are to receive a pre-tax bonus just shy of €4,000 for 2015. VW’s head of human resources said their very good team work in “the difficult situation” and “their strong commitment deserve to be recognised”.
In 2014 the bonus payments were €5,900.
VW caused a stir last month when it announced large performance-related bonuses for its top executives. Although the bonuses form the greater part of the annual pay packet and are calculated on the carmaker’s performance in previous years, the news sparked national debate.
Even Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble weighed in saying "there are discussions where it is hard to believe that the people concerned fail to comprehend that this is not compatible with certain values."
VW’s supervisory board decided at the end of April to freeze 30% of the annual bonuses for nine directors. But this could be paid out in three years if the company meets stock market targets.
Before he resigned when the scandal broke, the previous CEO, Martin Winterkorn, was the highest-paid executive in Germany for some years, earning a total salary of €15.8 million in 2014, of which €13.9 million came in bonus payments.
The engine-rigging scandal has forced the company to recall vehicles around the world. It recorded a loss of €1.58 billion after setting aside €16.2 billion to cover potential fines, lawsuits and recall costs.
