Volkswagen: Carbon emissions issue smaller than previously believed

Nathan Bomey | USA TODAY

Volkswagen said Wednesday that the number of its vehicles with misstated carbon emissions figures is much smaller than it previously estimated and that it will not have to spend $2.2 billion to address the matter.

The company had previously acknowledged "irregularities" in the carbon emissions of 800,000 vehicles, but now says it's "only a small number" and said any financial impact would be "minor."

The carbon emissions issue is unrelated to the company's ongoing diesel emissions scandal, but the news was still encouraging for investors. Volkswagen shares rose 6% as of 7:48 a.m. ET to $131.15 in trading on a German stock exchange.

"Following extensive internal investigations and measurement checks, it is now clear that almost all of these model variants do correspond to the CO2 figures originally determined," Volkswagen said in a statement.

Volkswagen said nine models are emitting carbon at a rate of 0.1 to 0.2 liters per 100 kilometers more than it reported to regulators, which is not enough to change the overall fuel economy rating for consumers.

The company noted that the clarification applies only to European vehicles, describing it as "annual production of approximately 36,000 vehicles" for the Volkswagen brand and an unspecified number of Audi, Skoda and Seat brand vehicles.

Volkswagen U.S. spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said she could not immediately clarify whether the 36,000 figure applies to every year of production or only one year.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.