German auto giant Volkswagen said Wednesday that the global pollution-cheating scam it is currently embroiled in pushed it deeply into the red in the third quarter and would hurt earnings for the whole of 2015.

VW said in a statement that it booked a net loss of 1.673 billion euros ($1.85 billion) in the period from July to September, compared with a profit of 2.971 billion euros a year earlier.

At the same time, the carmaker said it expected full-year operating profit to be "sharply lower" than in 2014, although global vehicles sales would match levels a year earlier and turnover was projected to rise by "up to four percent".