FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group is considering whether to pay out a record 3.3 billion-euro ($3.6 billion) dividend as planned or use at least part of it to shore up its finances for what is shaping up to be the biggest economic crisis since World War II.

Investors are entitled to the dividend and would be disappointed if it was delayed, cut or suspended, CFO Frank Witter said in a video message to staff seen by Bloomberg.

But VW is fighting to protect liquidity and tweaking the payout plan "wouldn't be something entirely unusual," Witter said last week. The "situation is fluid."

Global companies from Boeing to HSBC Holdings have slashed or postponed payouts since the coronavirus pandemic began wreaking havoc across continents and economies.

More than $56 billion of dividends have been scrapped by businesses in Western Europe and North America, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Western Europe another $40 billion has been temporarily postponed.

A spokesman for VW said the company continues to monitor the situation. Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the investment vehicle of the Porsche and Piech family that controls a 53 percent voting stake in the world's largest automaker, declined to comment. VW's profit and dividend are the only significant sources of income for the holding company.