Volkswagen shares end day 17.14% lower on false emission data scam

Shares in German auto giant Volkswagen ended the day 17.14 percent lower on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Monday after it emerged that nearly half a million of its diesel cars in the United States had been fitted with software that falsified emissions data.

The stock, which had shed more than 20 percent during the course of the session, closed at 133.70 euros, down 17.14 percent on the day.

In a statement on Sunday, the carmaker had said that the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board had found that while testing diesel cars of the Volkswagen Group they had "detected manipulations that violate American environmental standards."

VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn issued an apology and said the group had ordered an external investigation into the matter.

"The board of management takes these findings very seriously. I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public. We will cooperate fully with the responsible agencies, with transparency and urgency, to clearly, openly and completely establish all of the facts of this case," Winterkorn said.

"We at Volkswagen will do everything that must be done in order to re-establish the trust that so many people have placed in us, and we will do everything necessary in order to reverse the damage this has caused. This matter has first priority for me, personally, and for our entire board of management," Winterkorn said.