Volkswagen shares went up another notch to 134c last night (having fallen to a low of 92c in October) after the Chairman and Chief Executive of the group, acknowledged publicly, for the first time, that the culture which led to the diesel emissions scandal, is systemic throughout parts of the company, has been in place for up to a decade and goes way beyond a small group of "rogue" engineers.

Nine engineers have been suspended and up to 2,000 employees told to keep all data records of the scandal-related period, but no evidence has been uncovered to date, it seems, of the involvement of any senior management or board members.

The investigation will continue and the next update will be provided at the Annual General Meeting in April.