Volkswagen is to pay a dozen current and former senior managers a total of about €63m (£49m, $71m) for 2015, despite reporting record annual losses following its emissions scandal.
The carmaker said it would withhold a portion of bonus payments for now, but could award them at a later date.Last year VW admitted to cheating on diesel emissions tests, with net losses for 2015 reaching €5.5bn.
Chief executive Matthias Mueller apologised for the firm’s actions.
At a press conference, he acknowledged that the carmaker “disappointed many people who trusted Volkswagen”.Mr Mueller has been promised a 2015 pay package of €4.76m, of which €880,000 has been postponed.
Meanwhile former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in the wake of the scandal, agreed to delay 30% of his variable pay but will still collect a total of €7.3m.
Hans Dieter Posch will receive €5.2m for his previous work as chief finance officer, as well as fixed pay of €13.4m for his new role chairing Volkswagen’s supervisory board.
Recall Costs
The German company has set aside €16.2bn to pay costs associated with the scandal, almost half of which is devoted to buying back or repairing diesel cars that possess the emissions cheating software.
Source: BBC