(Bloomberg) BMW AG will raise its earnings forecast for the year because it expects an antitrust fine from the European Union will be much smaller than anticipated two years ago.The automaker said late Thursday it will get a roughly 1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) boost to earnings this quarter from revaluing a provision for an EU fine over allegations that it colluded with its German peers to delay rolling out cleaner cars. BMW shares rose as much as 1.9% on Friday in Frankfurt.BMW expects the EU “will significantly reduce its allegations” against the company, according to a statement. The lesser-than-anticipated penalty will allow the company to raise its margin projection for auto earnings before interest and taxes by about 1 percentage point.At issue is the EU’s investigation of BMW, Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG over their alleged conspiring on emission-reduction systems for diesel cars between 2006 and 2014. The EU said in 2019 that the companies’ coord
VW CEO Herbert Diess embraces social media and splashy events and it is working While the gains Diess has generated lately are still a far cry from what Elon Musk pulled off in 2020, they have partially made up for lowered compensation 17 March 2021 - 11:30 Christoph Rauwald Volkswagen group CEO Herbert Diess. Picture: REUTERS/ALBERT GEA
Frankfurt Volkswagen has swiftly gone from corporate dinosaur status to stock market darling, and its CEO’s imitation of Elon Musk has a lot to do with it.
Herbert Diess has taken a page out of the Tesla CEO’s script for captivating investors big and small, taking a hands-on role in getting VW’s message out on social media and staging splashy events big on ambition. It’s paying off the carmaker’s common shares closed on Tuesday at their highest since 2009.