Scandal-struck car manufacturer Volkswagen said Thursday that its profits fell in the second quarter by 57 percent to 1.15 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

Second-quarter profits were weighed down by almost 2.5 billion euros of special items, mostly related to 2015's diesel emissions cheating scandal.

"Further enormous feats of strength will be needed to contain the high costs of the diesel question," finance director Frank Witter said in a statement.