Volkswagen executives will see reduced bonuses as the company continues to deal with the fallout from its diesel emissions scandal.
Company officials met Tuesday amid pressure from a top shareholder and union leader to curb bonus pay in solidarity with workers, investors and customers that bore the brunt of the emissions controversy.
In a statement Wednesday, VW announced that its management and supervisory boards agreed that the bonuses should send "a signal" in light of "the current situation of the company."
"As a consequence, this would lead to a significant reduction of the variable remuneration," the company said.
Discussions about appropriate bonus payments remain ongoing and are slated to be approved late next week. Reuters, citing a source familiar with the talks, said the cuts would exceed 30 percent -- a relatively modest total given the scale of the scandal.
The reductions would apply to the management board -- including CEO Matthias Mueller -- but not to the supervisory board, which functions as a board of directors. Hans Dieter Poetsch, who served as CFO until taking over as board chairman, will voluntary receive a reduced bonus.
Cumulative bonus amounts will be presented as part of the company's full earnings report on April 28. VW sales fell off dramatically after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed the installation of software to manipulate emissions in its diesel vehicles in September.
