Volkswagen’s top shareholders said the group’s core business is still robust, after the carmaker agreed a record $15.3 billion settlement in its emissions-cheating scandal in the United States. “We are firmly convinced that Volkswagen (VW) has long-term potential to gain in value,” Hans Dieter Poetsch, chief executive of Porsche SE , which owns 52 percent of VW’s voting shares, said on Wednesday. “Despite all difficulties that VW is currently facing in the wake of the diesel issue, we should always bear in mind that its core business is healthy and robust,” Poetsch said at Porsche SE’s annual shareholder meeting.