Volkswagen is considering dropping sponsorship of Bundesliga soccer clubs Hannover 96, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 as well as second division 1860 Munich to cut costs amid its emissions scandal.
After admitting in September that it had installed cheat software in diesel vehicles to deceive U.S. regulators about the true level of their toxic emissions, VW has been battling the biggest business crisis in its 78-year history with hefty fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits.
It is said that the company could face a bill as high as 35 billion euros in fines, and it’s looking into dropping its costs, after cutting 1 billion euros from its 2016 investment plan.
According to German newspaper, Bild am Sonntag, Volkswagen spends about 1.5 million euros per season on each of the soccer clubs it could now cut from its sponsorship list. In addition, Volkswagen may drop its 5 million-euro-a-year sponsorship of ice hockey club Grizzlys Wolfsburg. In total, VW should save 11 million euros by dropping the sponsorship for all these teams.
However, VW did not comment on this matter and no final decision has yet to be made.
