Good nightpublished at 21:29
That is it for another busy day in the business world. We will be back tomorrow at 06:00 sharp. Sleep tight.
Summary
Outgoing VW boss Winterkorn says "fresh start" needed
Diageo warns on £150m currency hit
'Happy Birthday' ruled out of copyright
US drug company to cut 5,000% price rise after backlash
George Osborne sets UK-China trade target
Good nightpublished at 21:29
Wall Streetpublished at 21:13
On Wall Street the Dow Jones average fell 51 points to 16,279. The S&P 500 dropped four points to 1,939. And the Nasdaq ended just three points lower at 4,753.
On the foreign exchanges the pound currently buys you 1 dollar 52.4 and 1 euro 36.3.
VW scandal: A reader comments on Winterkorn's resignationpublished at 21:08
Colin Meades writes...
There was no option. Every CEO should be held accountable for the criminal, deceitful practices their employees are involved in, especially when it must be obvious to the board that such practices were being implemented.
VW scandal: Where will the ripples spread?published at 20:54
Bloomberg has this interesting suggestion that VW's problems may affect some bond investors., external
Image source, PAVW scandal: 'Bigger threat to Germany than Greece'published at 20:43
VW sold 600,000 cars in the US last year.
"All of a sudden, Volkswagen has become a bigger downside risk for the German economy than the Greek debt crisis," ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski told Reuters.
"If Volkswagen's sales were to plunge in North America in the coming months, this would not only have an impact on the company, but on the German economy as a whole," he added.
VW scandal: Mexico starts a probepublished at 20:30
Mexico is checking to see if Volkswagen has complied with its emissions standards and will act if it finds anomalies, Mexico's environment minister said on Wednesday.
Rafael Pacchiano told Reuters that the agency hoped to have results from the review in the "coming days."
So what? The VW plant in Puebla is the largest car factory in Mexico and along with an engine factory at Silao employs more than 15,000 workers.
Image source, ReutersVW scandal: A reader suggests the fraud is commonplacepublished at 20:16
David Paxton offers this opinion.
Image source, EPA"How many people have been driving along, in both petrol and diesel cars, when they suddenly loose power. This is because they have inadvertently driven under conditions that match the pre-test cycle that the car is subject to. The car then thinks its about to be tested and it's brain switches into a mode that produces low emissions and low power. Switching the engine off and on when this happens resets things and the car drives as normal. If you take your car to the dealer after it happens it won't do it again and they can't find anything wrong - how strange! In addition if you look at the power output of a car and draw a graph of power against revs you find dips in the curve. You will see this for any car from any manufacturer. These correspond with the revs that the emissions tests are carried out. - coincidence? " Do any diesel engineers agree?
VW scandal: How do you test a car's emissions?published at 20:01
BBC News visited Emission Analytics in London to find out about one common method of carrying out a detailed measurement.
Image source, GettyWinterkorn resignation 'inevitable'published at 19:42
Jim Holder of publishers Haymarket Automotive on the BBC World Service:
Image source, Getty ImagesThe end of Martin Winterkorn's "glittering career" as VW chief was inevitable, Jim Holder from publishing company Haymarket Automotive tells World Business Report. He said that for damage limitation, the situation demanded a head-roll. "There are too many unanswered questions at the moment - is this an industry-wide problem? Where are the 11 million affected cars? And then there's the obvious question: why did VW cheat?"
VW scandal: German economy minister demands swift clean uppublished at 19:29
Image source, GettyThe German vice chancellor and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel said after the resignation of Volkswagen's boss, Martin Winterkorn, that it was important for the scandal to be cleared up completely: "By the company itself, as well as through cooperation by Germany and the company with American prosecutors and the American authorities. I think we owe that to the Americans.''
Gabriel added: "Ultimately, this must happen quickly. We must not allow the impression to arise that this is a problem for the whole auto industry or that it raises questions over the integrity of Volkswagen overall. The 600,000 employees of VW cannot help it that individuals carried out criminal actions on whatever scale.''
The VW saga: Another reader writes...published at 19:10
From Steve Clarke.
If they have actually deceived their own customers, which they seemed to have accepted, then why would anyone buy a VW car again? Also they will lose the entire company fleet car market.
Volkswagen scandal: 'Unprecedented scale'published at 18:46
BBC Radio 5 LiveThe VW scandal was on an "unprecedented scale" says, Martin Leach, chairman of car industry consultancy Magma Group and former president and chief operating officer of Ford Europe. Speaking to BBC 5 live, Mr Leach said he expects the crisis to affect the premium which VW can attract for its cars, putting prices and sales under pressure - with strong repercussions for the North American market it was just beginning to break.
VW scandal: 'Over-aggressive targets'published at 18:24
Roger Hill, a Livepage reader, asks...
"Could the root cause of this disaster be VW’s over-aggressive target culture? In Germany the working culture is to obey without question. When a CEO sets growth targets that are too aggressive (as was reported for VW in the US) even senior employees fear saying no. The temptation for dishonesty becomes overwhelming. Whilst the CEO might have been unaware of this dishonesty, his over-aggressive target-setting led to it and therefore it is right that he resigned."
Financial marketspublished at 18:00
In London the 100 share index closed up 96 at 6,032.
In Frankfurt shares in Volkswagen rebounded and rose by 5%. The Dax index closed 42 points up at 9,613.
In Paris the Cac-40 index rose 4 points to 4,433.
On the foreign exchanges the pound fell a cent to 1 dollar 52.6, and was down nearly two cents to 1 euro 36.5.
VW scandal: 'No general suspicion please' says German auto industrypublished at 17:50
Reuters in Berlin says the head of Germany's VDA auto industry association has warned against calling into question all diesel technology because of the crisis at Volkswagen.
Quote MessageOne shouldn't make the mistake of using this case where software was manipulated to produce better test results to call into question all diesel technology," VDA chief Matthias Wissmann said. "The diesel that is used by the German auto industry in many configurations is a major driver of the reduction in CO2 emissions worldwide. Therefore we need a clear separation here," he added. "My plea is, no general suspicion towards the German auto industry."
VW scandal: Chief executive Martin Winterkorn resignspublished at 17:40
Artur Fischer, who is the joint head of the Berlin Stock Exchange, says Mr Winterkorn had no other option.
Quote MessageVW is somewhat the emblem of "Made in Germany" and that brand has been damaged by what happened. It was the right step for Mr Winterkorn to step aside, so there is a neutral party who can analyse what really went wrong."
VW scandal: Big shareholder predicts costs of 10bn eurospublished at 17:32
Gilles Guibout, european equities fund manager at AXA, tells the BBC....
Quote Message“We think that the bill could be 10bn euros, more than the 7bn euros they have planned for. This raises question for the whole industry - everybody knows that all the emissions tests are done in laboratory conditions - they do not show the real emissions from the car. It could put the whole sector under pressure to reveal the real emissions. The costs to meet the new emissions targets were already big - the costs will now be even higher and they will be even more severe.”
Image source, EPAVW: A big shareholder responds to Winterkorn's resignationpublished at 17:23
The BBC has spoken to Gilles Guibout, european equities fund manager at AXA, VW's ninth biggest shareholder.
Quote MessageThere was no alternative - it is an attempt to keep the fire under control. He has tried to take all the responsibility but it is not easy to say if this will be enough." On the allegations: “It has been a real shock. We are a long term shareholder and we put a lot of emphasis on management credibility. The fall in the share price was too big for us to sell - it would not be in our clients’ interest to sell."
The Brazilian currency, the real, falls even furtherpublished at 17:16
From Daniel Gallas, the BBC's South America business correspondent
Image source, ReutersAfter closing in its all-time low value against the dollar on Tuesday, the Brazilian currency - the real - is still dropping on Wednesday.
One dollar was worth more than 4.10 reais around noon in Brazil. On Tuesday the dollar closed above the 4 reais barrier for the first time since the real was created, in 1994.
Today, market analysts say the currency is reacting to indecision in Europe, as the ECB president Mario Draghi was not clear about which way Europe's quantitative easing programme will go.
Markets are also uncertain about President Dilma Rousseff’s ability to approve her economic reforms in Congress. She obtained some small victories yesterday against MPs that wanted to increase public spending, but her government still needs to do a lot in Congress in the coming weeks to secure her reforms.
VW bosses issue rallying call to their staffpublished at 17:05
The executive committee adds...
Quote MessageVolkswagen is a magnificent company that depends on the efforts of hundreds of thousands of people. We consider it our task that this company regains the trust of our customers in every respect.