VW poised to sign bridging loans as emissions scandal costs mount

Berlin (dpa) - Embattled German carmaker Volkswagen is preparing to sign multi-billion-euro bridging loans in a bid to boost its financial strength as it faces up to the heavy costs of the emissions testing scandal.Based in the northern German city of Wolfburg, the VW group is expected to sign off on the loans later this week, officials told dpa on Wednesday.The total value of the financing is about 20 billion euros (21.2 billion dollars), the Bloomberg news agency reported, with 13 banks each providing VW with a loan of between 1.5 billion euros or 2.5 billion euros.VW is facing the threat of legal action around the world in the wake of the emissions affair, as well as massive fines and costly recalls to refit vehicles equipped with software aimed at avoiding the emissions tests.Analysts see the carmaker‘s moves as part of its attempts to reassure investors of the group‘s liquidity after VW admitted in September that it had cheated on global emissions tests for its diesel-powered vehicles. Underlying the impact of the scandal on the 12-brand group, figures relased on Wednesday showed sales in Germany of its core VW brand fell for the second consecutive month in November.VW brand new registrations fell 2 per cent to 57,923 in November compared with the same month last, the Federal Motor Vehicle Office (KBA) said.