Volkswagen plans to change the legal structure of its trucks business by incorporating VW Truck & Bus and MAN and Scania for a possible IPO, according to reports.

German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that VW intends to take a majority stake in the division and that a possible IPO could make €10bn (£8.93bn).

The next stage is to engage investment banks, with the potential to list by the start of 2019, according to an unnamed source quoted by the paper.

The auto manufacturer said that no formal decision had been taken and that there were yet no permissions from supervisory or management boards.

VW declined to comment to Handelsblatt or Reuters.

The Volkswagen group reported an increase in sales revenues of 6.2% in 2017, to €230bn (£202bn) at the end of February.

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The group attributed the result to strong unit sales, which grew 4.3% to 10.7m worldwide, and “healthy” performance of financial services.

Operating profits almost doubled to €13.8bn. The group incurred €3.2bn in charges over dieselgate litigations.

In provisional figures released in November, Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) said it expected its own profits for 2017 to surpass 2016’s €2.1bn.

It cited a portfolio increase of 8% to 19.7m contracts, relating especially to maintenance and inspection contracts, as well as lower cost of refinancing as reasons for the high expectation.

The 2017 results were the first released after VWFS realigned its organisational structure, merging the European credit and deposit businesses into Volkswagen Bank. They are also expected to contain an update on VWFS’s intention to apply for a banking licence from the Bank of England to secure its post-Brexit future.

In September 2015, VW admitted using ‘defeat devices’ in its diesel cars in order to alter the results of emissions tests on its diesel vehicles for several years.

The affected models included the VW Beetle, Golf, and Passat, and the Audi A3, and was branded by the British government as ‘unacceptable’, leading them to push for an EU-wide investigation.

Volkswagen admitted to using the software, which was estimated to have affected 11m vehicles, sparking a worldwide recall.