VW labour boss says fresh emissions crisis has hit new car orders

Works council chief says would-be buyers growing cautious about Volkswagen cars after the carmaker admitted to understating fuel usage and CO2 output

Volkswagen is facing slowing orders for new cars, with consumers shunning the carmaker after it admitted to understating fuel usage and carbon dioxide emissions, VW's top labour representative said.

"There is caution in buying," the German company's works council chief Bernd Osterloh told reporters. "The CO₂ issue has triggered a greater crisis of confidence [in VW products] than the nitrogen [emissions] issue."