:00:07. > :00:11.This is Business Live from BBC News with Aaron Heslehurst and Ben
:00:12. > :00:15.Unveiling the source of the scandal - Volkswagen prepares to release
:00:16. > :00:18.the results of its investigation into how 11 million of its cars
:00:19. > :00:22.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday
:00:23. > :00:44.Fall from grace - it was the world's biggest car
:00:45. > :00:47.marker, but today VW will try and explain how its cars broke
:00:48. > :00:50.emission test rules for over a decade.
:00:51. > :00:54.Also in the programme: As the smog red alert lifts in Beijing,
:00:55. > :00:57.so Chinese car sales grow at their fastest pace in two years.
:00:58. > :01:14.Just what China needs! And the global market not tracking the
:01:15. > :01:17.losses we saw in Wall Street and Asia.
:01:18. > :01:19.And everyone has a book in them, so the saying goes.
:01:20. > :01:22.But what if publishers and editors don't agree that
:01:23. > :01:25.We meet the boss of self-publishing website Blurb.
:01:26. > :01:27.And as one one woman admits to recruiting chefs for her cooking
:01:28. > :01:30.business via the dating app Tinder, we want to know what's the most
:01:31. > :01:35.Send us your stories of being hired or fired.
:01:36. > :01:59.It was the largest car maker in the world, and now it's
:02:00. > :02:02.the source of one of the biggest corporate scandals in history.
:02:03. > :02:04.In less than two hours' time, the embattled car giant Volkswagen
:02:05. > :02:07.will release the results of its long-awaited internal
:02:08. > :02:11.investigation into the emissions rigging saga.
:02:12. > :02:13.The company has been looking at how its diesel vehicles managed
:02:14. > :02:21.It isn't clear what is expected from the release, but what is clear
:02:22. > :02:28.is how much the scandal has hurt VW's bottom line.
:02:29. > :02:32.So far, 11 million cars have been recalled globally.
:02:33. > :02:41.These include Golf models and the Audi A3 from 2009 to 2015.
:02:42. > :02:44.As well as footing the recall bills, VW is also facing lawsuits
:02:45. > :02:47.from governments and motorists around the world.
:02:48. > :02:54.UK sales in November were down a fifth from the same month a year
:02:55. > :03:05.ago, despite the rest of the market making near 4% gains.
:03:06. > :03:08.In the US, Volkswagen sales were 25% for the month as the extent
:03:09. > :03:10.of the emissions scandal became clear.
:03:11. > :03:14.More than ten billion euros - $10.1 bn - has been wiped off VW's
:03:15. > :03:20.It has also cost chief executive Martin Winterkorn his job.
:03:21. > :03:24.VW has just posted its first quarterly loss in a decade after it
:03:25. > :03:31.took a $6.7 billion provision to help cover costs for the scandal.
:03:32. > :03:34.But many experts believe the total bill could come to more than $30
:03:35. > :03:37.billion as legal bills, fines and the cost of
:03:38. > :03:50.George Galliers, Equity Research Analyst from Evercore ISI,
:03:51. > :04:00.Welcome to the programme. We saw the numbers there. Talk us through your
:04:01. > :04:05.view of this, because in different parts of the world, there are
:04:06. > :04:08.different impacts on what people think of the scandal and how they
:04:09. > :04:15.are voting with their feet and whether they are buying VW cars.
:04:16. > :04:21.Exactly. What we are seeing, in the UK, sales were down 20%. In the US,
:04:22. > :04:29.you have seen a sharp drop in sales, 24%. But in much of mainland Europe,
:04:30. > :04:32.Volkswagen's market share is in-line with where it was tracking in the
:04:33. > :04:36.first nine months of the year, so it doesn't look like consumers are
:04:37. > :04:44.backing away from the box what brand.
:04:45. > :04:49.We get an update this morning on the scale from VW's point of view. Some
:04:50. > :04:55.analysts are ashamed that this could be good news for Volkswagen, a long
:04:56. > :04:59.overdue restructuring and putting overdue restructuring and putting
:05:00. > :05:03.the business in order and making it more efficient. Could it turn out in
:05:04. > :05:11.the long run to be a blessing? That is the view we have taken. It is a
:05:12. > :05:18.huge cost, around 20 billion year rose, but it has opportunity for the
:05:19. > :05:21.company to address some of the inefficiencies around research and
:05:22. > :05:27.development, purchasing and also high personnel costs. And we believe
:05:28. > :05:31.the scandal will act as a catalyst for the company to take a closer
:05:32. > :05:39.look at itself and look to remedy some of the rungs of the past. We
:05:40. > :05:44.talked about the costs, 6.7 billion euros, but again, I am curious about
:05:45. > :05:50.your thoughts. It is like the BP story. The costs of the scandal will
:05:51. > :05:59.escalate, and some are now predicting 30 billion euros, just
:06:00. > :06:03.over $30 billion. And we expect this to cost around 30 billion euros. We
:06:04. > :06:14.think yesterday's announcement reduces that by around 10-15%. The
:06:15. > :06:19.30 billion is made up of fixing the engines affected, 11 million
:06:20. > :06:25.vehicles, the engines interacted by CO2, the legal implications, the
:06:26. > :06:29.fines and impact on market share and pricing. It is a lot of money, but
:06:30. > :06:38.not enough to do too much damage to Volkswagen. By the end of this year,
:06:39. > :06:42.we think that Fox wagon -- Volkswagen will be sitting on offers
:06:43. > :06:46.of 24 billion, so they have deep coffers.
:06:47. > :06:47.Let's look at some of the other stories making headlines all around
:06:48. > :06:48.the world. One of the Middle East's largest
:06:49. > :06:51.retail chains has withdrawn Donald Trump products
:06:52. > :06:53.from its shelves after he called for a temporary ban
:06:54. > :06:55.on Muslims entering the US. The chain known as Lifestyle says it
:06:56. > :06:58.has removed Trump Home products from its stores in the UAE, Kuwait,
:06:59. > :07:03.Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Four tobacco companies are taking
:07:04. > :07:05.the UK Government to court on Thursday over new rules
:07:06. > :07:08.on packaging which they say From May 2016, all cigarette packets
:07:09. > :07:11.will have to remove branding, The measures are aimed
:07:12. > :07:19.at discouraging people from smoking. Australia adopted similar
:07:20. > :07:27.legislation three years ago. Profit at Inditex, the largest
:07:28. > :07:38.fashion retailer in the world and owner of Zara, says profits
:07:39. > :07:40.soared 20% in the nine Net profit came in at more than $2.2
:07:41. > :07:45.billion, giving the firm a strong Let's take a look round the world
:07:46. > :08:07.at what's business stories Neil Woodford selling out of
:08:08. > :08:11.Rolls-Royce. A lot of emphasis is placed on his actions, but he says
:08:12. > :08:17.he has lost his long-term confidence in the business model. It is a big
:08:18. > :08:20.blow for a company already facing a tough time. It has issued a number
:08:21. > :08:25.of profit warnings and is facing major reorganisation. Plenty of
:08:26. > :08:36.details there on the Rolls-Royce sale if you want them. Was that
:08:37. > :08:45.Stephanie with Prince William? Yes! There you go. We don't need to see
:08:46. > :08:50.that any more. That is a caption competition in itself! What is Steph
:08:51. > :09:00.saying to Prince William and what is he saying to her? We will read out
:09:01. > :09:06.the best ones later on. OK, let's go and take a look at the other
:09:07. > :09:12.business stories. Celia Hatton is in Beijing. We thought that car sales
:09:13. > :09:17.were slowing in China, but they have jumped 20%. And I guess with all the
:09:18. > :09:25.smog stories of late, this is the last thing that China needs. The
:09:26. > :09:29.moral of the story here is that tax breaks really work in China. Car
:09:30. > :09:33.sales were down for much of the year, they had flat lined. Many
:09:34. > :09:36.people were predicting the end to the growth of the car industry in
:09:37. > :09:44.China, but really, the Government stepped in, they have the cost of
:09:45. > :09:49.taxes on small cars in China, that represents 70% of the market here,
:09:50. > :09:53.and that meant a lot of people took the decision to go out and buy a
:09:54. > :09:58.car, so this is the second month we have seen explosive growth. Car
:09:59. > :10:02.sales up 20% in the month of November, the biggest jump in two
:10:03. > :10:07.years. OK, Celia, good on you. Thank you
:10:08. > :10:10.for that update. So, car sales are up in China at the moment. I want to
:10:11. > :10:12.talk about Asia. Some slipped or were fairly muted
:10:13. > :10:15.because of the lower oil prices. The slump in the black stuff
:10:16. > :10:18.continued to feed the slowing We saw Wall Street off. The rest of
:10:19. > :10:29.Asia following. Tokyo's Nikkei closing
:10:30. > :10:36.down at a five-week low. That said, one notable move
:10:37. > :10:39.in the region was the Aussie dollar Australian jobs numbers surged
:10:40. > :10:42.in November, pushing unemployment Europe expected to track the losses
:10:43. > :10:51.on Wall Street and in Asia. We continue seeing this
:10:52. > :10:57.seven-week low in Europe. The FTSE 100 is down, the Dax and
:10:58. > :11:08.Cac fairly muted. The plunge in commodity prices -
:11:09. > :11:12.again everything from iron ore, copper, aluminium
:11:13. > :11:14.to the black stuff. Let's go and find out what should be
:11:15. > :11:25.the big news over there today. More signs of continued strength in
:11:26. > :11:29.the labour market. The number of Americans filing for a diploma last
:11:30. > :11:34.week it's better to show that. They are near levels last recorded in the
:11:35. > :11:38.70s. Also improving, the Government was my finances. The Treasury
:11:39. > :11:43.Department will likely report a Treasury deficit of $68 billion
:11:44. > :11:48.complied to $138 billion last month. Import and export prices are
:11:49. > :11:58.expected to have both dropped. Meanwhile, photo shotmaker Adobe is
:11:59. > :12:01.expected to report fourth-quarter earnings in line with estimates, but
:12:02. > :12:07.the company has warned it will take a hit because of the strong dollar.
:12:08. > :12:17.Their stock is up 26% this year. As always, Nada in New York for us.
:12:18. > :12:19.Joining us is Anne Richards, Chief Investment Officer,
:12:20. > :12:29.Let's talk about commodities. When you look at the actions of the
:12:30. > :12:34.commodities firms, be that BHP, Glencore, Rio, there could be some
:12:35. > :12:39.restructuring in the pipeline and the amount of debt these companies
:12:40. > :12:43.have on their books. We are at the end of a quite a long cycle, at
:12:44. > :12:48.least we hope it is the end. It does feel we are very close to that point
:12:49. > :12:50.of maximum pain, because every single supplier that comes out to
:12:51. > :12:54.the market with a statement right now, it is either cutting costs or
:12:55. > :12:59.raising capital or trying to sell assets. A lot of debt has gone into
:13:00. > :13:03.these companies to fund that growth, because everybody thought China was
:13:04. > :13:07.it growth ever, and it is still growing, just not at the pace
:13:08. > :13:12.before. That risk of some sort of fear of a credit default is
:13:13. > :13:15.beginning to build up, so we see this acceleration of announcements
:13:16. > :13:20.from companies, and that is giving the broader markets a bit of
:13:21. > :13:23.concern. I am interested in this. We do hear different opinions. You say
:13:24. > :13:29.we are hopefully at the end of this cycle, this lower in terms of the
:13:30. > :13:36.prices, but it seems everybody had their eggs in one basket, which was
:13:37. > :13:39.China. China still has growth but is slowing. Experts say they can't see
:13:40. > :13:44.the light at the end of the tunnel just yet in terms of China returning
:13:45. > :13:49.to better growth. So if it doesn't, these commodity prices won't go up,
:13:50. > :13:55.will they? China is still growing at 6%, give or take. It is still more
:13:56. > :14:03.than twice the rate of the UK. It needs to, because it is a larger
:14:04. > :14:07.country. Not necessarily. It is very big, and so incrementally more
:14:08. > :14:12.growth is more beneficial for demand. So the fact that it isn't
:14:13. > :14:15.growing as fast as it was before and there isn't another China act there
:14:16. > :14:23.to take on the Batten means we have to get used to a lower global level
:14:24. > :14:26.of growth. Thank you very much. We are going to talk about shoes and
:14:27. > :14:27.dating apps and allsorts of things a little later when we have a look
:14:28. > :14:32.through the papers just to clarify. Still to come: Why penning your best
:14:33. > :14:36.selling novel could be a lot easier We meet the boss of the biggest
:14:37. > :14:39.self-publishing company You're with Business
:14:40. > :14:45.Live from BBC News. It's been a dramatic week for mining
:14:46. > :14:48.companies with a big slump There could be some more
:14:49. > :15:04.big news from Glencore, We were just discussing some of the
:15:05. > :15:10.headline issues for this week. Glencore could have an update for
:15:11. > :15:14.us. It holds the distinction of being the worst performing stock in
:15:15. > :15:21.the in Tyre FTSE 100. It has lost 70% of its value, and no surprise it
:15:22. > :15:25.is in the commodity area. We heard from Anglo-American who had a
:15:26. > :15:30.radical restructuring, 85,000 jobs to go, cancelling the dividend and
:15:31. > :15:34.selling 35 minds. Glencore has said it is going to try to reduce its
:15:35. > :15:37.mountain of debt, and that is a problem a lot of these companies
:15:38. > :15:42.have, falling prices and a mountain of debt. It is going to try to
:15:43. > :15:46.reduce it debt burden to 18 billion, and sell off some of its business is
:15:47. > :15:51.to try to get its enormous balance sheet under control. It is the fatal
:15:52. > :15:55.cocktail of declining prices and mountain of debt. So far this
:15:56. > :16:00.morning, investors like what they have heard, the stock is up almost
:16:01. > :16:03.8%, not out of the woods yet but early signs are investors like what
:16:04. > :16:09.they hear today. Simon, thanks for that. We will talk
:16:10. > :16:17.to you soon. You didn't even hear me at! Put your ear back in! Just
:16:18. > :16:25.quickly, a big day-to-day. The UK interest rate decision. How long has
:16:26. > :16:29.it been that it has been at a half of 1%? Since March 2000 and nine. We
:16:30. > :16:34.have the interest rate decision again today, not expected to change,
:16:35. > :16:40.all eyes really an America's central bank. And that meeting is next week.
:16:41. > :16:43.So it is likely that America will fire the starting gun first before
:16:44. > :16:49.the UK. But worth watching to see whether there is a change. There
:16:50. > :16:56.could be a split of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee.
:16:57. > :17:01.In the Guardian this morning, this is an undercover investigation by
:17:02. > :17:10.the Guardian looking at conditions in the warehouse for Sports Direct.
:17:11. > :17:12.They found some tough working practices. They say there is a lot
:17:13. > :17:26.of concern for those workers. Our top story: Volkswagen is set
:17:27. > :17:29.to unveil how 11 million of the company's cars
:17:30. > :17:43.were falsifying emissions tests, We have been discussing the
:17:44. > :17:46.implications for the business. Some are suggesting a long overdue
:17:47. > :17:49.restructuring of Volkswagen could come as a result, and that could be
:17:50. > :17:52.good news for the company in the long one, despite the awful
:17:53. > :18:00.headlines it has faced over the rigging of those emissions tests.
:18:01. > :18:03.Now, the famous saying goes that "Everyone has a book in them,
:18:04. > :18:05.and in most cases, that's where it should stay".
:18:06. > :18:08.But for those who really want to pen a bestselling novel,
:18:09. > :18:10.or even just collate their wedding photos into an album,
:18:11. > :18:14.In 2006, Eileen Gittins launched Blurb.
:18:15. > :18:16.It now claims to be one of the world's biggest
:18:17. > :18:19.Before Blurb, amongst others, she worked at the photography
:18:20. > :18:25.For Blurb, customers need to download software and from there,
:18:26. > :18:29.they can compile their photographic book.
:18:30. > :18:31.Popular books include wedding photo albums,
:18:32. > :18:38.Blurb offers a cheaper alternative for book printing
:18:39. > :18:39.than traditional designer/printer setups.
:18:40. > :18:42.Customers can also order ebooks as well as, or instead of,
:18:43. > :18:50.Earlier, Eileen sat down with me and explained how the publishing
:18:51. > :18:56.industry is shaking off its traditional image.
:18:57. > :18:59.About two years ago, we developed our own e-book products
:19:00. > :19:03.and tools so that people could make e-books.
:19:04. > :19:04.And honestly, I expected that by now,
:19:05. > :19:07.print would be down and e-books would be on the rise.
:19:08. > :19:10.What is happening, in our world at least,
:19:11. > :19:20.When people buy e-books, they also buy some
:19:21. > :19:22.print copies, and when people make a print book, they also
:19:23. > :19:26.So are you a printing company or you a publishing company?
:19:27. > :19:43.In a similar way, we are a technology enabled
:19:44. > :19:46.We are a technology platform that enables people
:19:47. > :19:50.like you independently to publish, and we
:19:51. > :20:00.support the whole back end, the printing, the e-book output,
:20:01. > :20:06.You can sell on Amazon, the whole nine yardss.
:20:07. > :20:09.You founded a couple of tech companies.
:20:10. > :20:11.You went through the bubble bursting.
:20:12. > :20:13.It's been an incredible path to where you
:20:14. > :20:19.Back in the day when I worked at Kodak, we were doing things
:20:20. > :20:25.The company, as a public company, needed to keep those
:20:26. > :20:33.And so it just couldn't let go of that film engine.
:20:34. > :20:38.When we used to talk about Kodak, you were there
:20:39. > :20:46.It was a company that invented digital photography,
:20:47. > :20:48.and the company went, "It's not going to catch".
:20:49. > :20:52.It was so frustrating to be sitting on technology that the world wanted
:20:53. > :20:55.and needed, but the business model of the company,
:20:56. > :20:59.being a public company, just could not
:21:00. > :21:04.abandon the film-based business, because it was the cash cow.
:21:05. > :21:11.At the moment when the market crashed and
:21:12. > :21:14.the bubble burst, VCs, as you may know, held back.
:21:15. > :21:17.They were like, no, we can't continue to invest
:21:18. > :21:19.because the horizon for an exit, which is
:21:20. > :21:21.their business model, looked like it was extending out
:21:22. > :21:28.Nothing was getting out, nothing was going public.
:21:29. > :21:35.Many of us had to shutter the doors, lay people off, try to keep
:21:36. > :21:40.One of the things that happened from that that
:21:41. > :21:42.informed Blurb was that when I founded the company,
:21:43. > :21:48.One was, we needed to build something that people were willing
:21:49. > :21:54.Not "If we build it, they will come".
:21:55. > :21:57.Actual products that people historically were willing to pay
:21:58. > :22:23.What other business stories has the media been taking
:22:24. > :22:26.Anne Richards from Aberdeen Asset Management is joining us
:22:27. > :22:37.The Times says the world is running out of oil storage. You don't think
:22:38. > :22:41.about this. We are only out of space to put its because of this huge
:22:42. > :22:47.supply glut. We have had this huge supply glut, and we have something
:22:48. > :22:51.like 3.5 billion barrels worth of storage globally. And more than 3
:22:52. > :22:55.billion of that is already full, so there is not much margin for error.
:22:56. > :23:02.To put that in context, 3 billion barrels is more than one month's
:23:03. > :23:07.total global demand for oil. So what happens if they all get filled up?
:23:08. > :23:12.Do you build new storage or do you cut production? Nobody is prepared
:23:13. > :23:17.to cut production. Well, if there is nowhere to put it, the cost of
:23:18. > :23:20.storage will go up. There is talk of floating tankers, but some of the
:23:21. > :23:25.highest cost producers will have to exit. This highlights the problem
:23:26. > :23:30.with commodities at the moment. That has been reflected in the cost of
:23:31. > :23:33.insuring against default for some of the big companies. We will hear from
:23:34. > :23:37.Glencore and later with an update on what they intend to do as a result
:23:38. > :23:42.of that slump in prices. And this is being repeated across the industry.
:23:43. > :23:46.It is, because the cost of that default insurance for Glencore has
:23:47. > :23:49.jumped noticeably. Part of the reason is that there is only a
:23:50. > :23:57.limited number of ways to raise money. Selling assets- well, who
:23:58. > :24:00.will buy? There are limitations. It feels like we are approaching that
:24:01. > :24:07.crunch point at the bottom of the cycle. There is a nice story here. I
:24:08. > :24:11.am a happily married man and I have no idea about Tinder. Me
:24:12. > :24:16.neitherex-macro but I have heard stories. But I have never heard
:24:17. > :24:20.about one for recruiting for jobs on Tinder.
:24:21. > :24:25.Yes, a start-up founder has been using the dating site to get hold of
:24:26. > :24:28.male chefs. She says it is purely for business purposes. She runs a
:24:29. > :24:32.cooking company and she says it is better than using the official site,
:24:33. > :24:39.LinkedIn. It is interesting how we see social media for personal stuff
:24:40. > :24:41.beginning to meld into social media for professional stuff. LinkedIn has
:24:42. > :24:46.always been professional. Twitter has moved from really personal do to
:24:47. > :24:52.much more professional, corporate advertising. It will be interesting
:24:53. > :24:55.to see if Tinder becomes commercialised in that way. But I
:24:56. > :25:00.think we are talking about a couple of chefs. I am not sure if this is a
:25:01. > :25:04.game changer. What attracted her eye was that they were wearing aprons. I
:25:05. > :25:08.am not sure if that is a generalisation that can be taken
:25:09. > :25:14.into other cases. The key to getting a job if you are a chef is to wear
:25:15. > :25:19.an apron in any profiles. No, the key is what they were wearing under
:25:20. > :25:28.the apronex-macro we can't leave the show on that note. We have more
:25:29. > :25:34.time? Oval. So, the shoes? What about these 3-D printed shoes? This
:25:35. > :25:38.is a fantastic idea. If you are female, shoes are pointy stock I
:25:39. > :25:44.have never met a woman with pointy toed feet. So this is an idea of a
:25:45. > :25:48.digital cobbler. Still you can take pictures of your feet in 3-D and
:25:49. > :25:52.somebody will have to issue that fits your feet. And since I have
:25:53. > :25:57.duck shaped feet, I think this is terrific. Next time you are on, show
:25:58. > :26:01.us. Talking appointed feet, you have never met my wife. Thanks very much.
:26:02. > :26:17.See you soon. It was another wet night across
:26:18. > :26:19.northern England. In Cumbria, we saw 68 millimetres of rain in the space
:26:20. > :26:20.of 24 hours.