The German carmaker has been hit with fines from its global diesel emissions fraud scandal, and is suffering from a slowdown in the sales of diesel cars.

Asked by the Rheinische Post newspaper whether his job was still fun, Mueller answered: "Next to the diesel crisis, there is a quite positive part of my job - for example, the operating business, which is running well. The year 2017 has been going well so far for Volkswagen from a business perspective."

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)