Reuters secures exclusive Volkswagen comments on earnings, Porsche

Reuters stole a march on the competition on June 20 and was the only news agency to get an exclusive interview with Volkswagen’s Chief Financial Officer ahead of a scheduled appearance in Bayreuth, Germany. Hans Dieter Poetsch told Reuters that Europe’s largest automaker was bucking the trend of sluggish earnings in the industry in the second quarter, and he was sceptical about the prospects for a swift deal with Porsche. The competition chose to ignore his appearance and Bloomberg picked up the exclusive interview, citing Reuters by name. The scoop was referenced in several analysts’ morning notes as well as by competitor Dow Jones Newswires and major news websites such as those of FTD, Die Welt, Focus and ARD.