All Press Releases

Lars Henner Santelmann, Chairman of the Board of Europe’s largest automotive financial services provider since September 2015, is leaving the company at his own request as of January 31, 2022, to assume a role in the field of environmental protection and conservation. His successor will be Dr. Christian Dahlheim, currently Head of Group Sales at Volkswagen AG. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, Volkswagen CFO Dr. Arno Antlitz, said: “We would like to thank Lars Henner Santelmann for his many years of service to our company. He has played a key role in its evolution. Among his particular achievements are the organizational realignment and the focus on a new digital business model. Volkswagen Financial Services is a mainstay of our NEW AUTO Group strategy. With his expertise in sales and financial services, Dr. Christian Dahlheim will enable us to continue along this successful path,” continued Antlitz.

As a founding partner of ‘42 Wolfsburg’, Volkswagen recognized at an early stage the powerful role that the innovative coding school ‘42’ could play in the company’s transformation to a software-focused technology company. The non-profit coding academy opened its doors last spring and is being strategically and financially supported by Volkswagen in the company’s role as lead partner. Volkswagen is now drawing on this positive experience with ‘42 Wolfsburg’ to expand this commitment to IT training even further. The automaker has now joined forces with its software subsidiary, CARIAD, and such companies as Bayer, Microsoft, SAP and T-Systems to set up a second coding academy in the German capital of Berlin. The first students are scheduled to begin their studies at ‘42 Berlin’ next summer.

EIT InnoEnergy, the world’s leading innovation engine for sustainable energy, and Volkswagen AG have announced a strategic partnership. Both companies are planning joint innovation and investment activities designed to help innovative technologies and business models achieve economic breakthroughs which will contribute to the decarbonisation of the transport sector and accelerate the shift to electromobility. The partnership involves Volkswagen becoming a new shareholder of EIT InnoEnergy.

The global semiconductor bottlenecks particularly impacted on the business performance of the Volkswagen Group in the third quarter. Operating profit before special items came to EUR 2.8 (3.2) billion in the period from July to September, a drop compared with the first two quarters of this year and the pandemic-related weak prior-year period. The operating return on sales before special items declined to 4.9 (5.4) percent in the third quarter. The volume brands were affected most in this period, recording operating losses in spite of having full order books. Owing to the semiconductor shortage, the high level of customer demand in China could also not be met. In the first nine months of the year, the Group’s brands lifted deliveries to customers by 6.9 percent to 7.0 (6.5) million vehicles. Sales revenue saw a more significant increase, rising by 20.0 percent in the same period to EUR 187 (155) billion. Due to the strong first half, operating profit before special items, which stood at EUR 14.2 (2.4) billion after nine months, remained at a solid level and exceeded the pandemic-related weak prior-year figure. The operating return on sales was 7.6 (1.5) percent. The Automotive Division achieved an adjusted net cash flow of EUR 12.4 (4.5) billion by the end of September, thus contributing substantially to the financing of the Group’s transformation. Despite the impact on working capital caused by the semiconductor shortage, adjusted net cash flow for the third quarter was slightly positive at EUR 33 million. Net liquidity in the Automotive Division fell by EUR 9.4 billion compared with the first six months to a still robust level of EUR 25.6 billion. Here, the Navistar transaction completed by July had a perceptible effect of around EUR 6 billion. In addition, a dividend of EUR 2.4 billion was distributed to Volkswagen shareholders in the third quarter. The Volkswagen Group confirmed its outlook for the operating return on sales for full year 2021 of 6.0 to 7.5 percent.

The Volkswagen Group successfully continued its global electric offensive in the third quarter of 2021. Despite a shortage of semiconductors, 122,100 BEVs were delivered to customers from July to September, an increase of 109 percent compared with the prior-year quarter. Particularly the market ramp-up in China accelerated significantly in Q3, where 28,900 BEVs were delivered, compared with 18,300 in the first half of the year. The BEV share of total deliveries rose to more than 6 percent in Q3. A total of 293,100 BEVs were delivered worldwide by the end of September, more than twice as many as in the prior-year period (+138 percent). There also continued to be strong demand for vehicles with a plug-in hybrid drive (PHEVs). A total of 246.000 PHEVs were delivered in the first nine months, more than twice as many as in the prior-year period (+133 percent).

Volkswagen will combine the Group functions Treasury and Investor Relations, effective December 1, 2021, to further strengthen the relationship to its banking partners and other capital markets participants. Dr. Jörg Boche, Head of Group Treasury at Volkswagen AG, will end his career after 15 years and retire at the end of 2021. Rolf Woller, Head of Treasury and Investor Relations at Volkswagen subsidiary TRATON SE, will move to Volkswagen AG effective December 1 to take over the newly formed Group function.

For the fifth time Volkswagen supports documenta. The largest exhibition for contemporary art takes place in Kassel which is also home of one of Volkswagen’s production sites. As a leading partner, the company stands behind the joint approach of documenta and Museum Fridericianium gGmbH in improving the environmental footprint of the international art event. Documenta fifteen is going to be curated by the Indonesian artist collective ruangrupa using lumbung, a practice based on collectivity, resource building and sustainable exchange. Between June 18 and September 25, 2022 the exhibition will invite visitors on more than 100 days to experience artworks from all over the world.

The Volkswagen Group will present solutions for the efficient, sustainable, safe and convenient movement of people and goods at the ITS World Congress in Hamburg, the world’s largest industry event for intelligent transportation systems, from October 11 to 15, 2021. The focus will be on autonomous driving, the intelligent use of vehicle data and the integration of electric vehicles into the power grid. Together with its Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, MOIA, CARIAD, Elli and MAN Truck & Bus brands, the Group will provide a forum for interested parties and experts with live demonstrations of pioneering pilot projects, discussion panels, lectures and expert talks.

The question is on the minds of everyone who is interested in e-mobility: What happens to the battery when an e-vehicle has reached the end of its service life? The answer is simple: The new analysis software BattMan ReLife checks their state of health in just a few minutes. Starting immediately, the quick check system will be used as a means of initial diagnosis in battery recycling at the pilot plant that Volkswagen Group Components has been operating in Salzgitter since the beginning of the year.

Volkswagen Group China is commencing construction of a battery system production factory in Hefei (Anhui province). VW Anhui Components Company is the first battery system plant to be wholly owned by the Group in China. Its initial annual capacity will be 150,000 to 180,000 high-voltage battery systems for Volkswagen Anhui’s all-electric vehicles based on the Group’s Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB platform). With an area of over 45,000 square meters, the plant will be located next to the production facilities of Volkswagen Anhui, Volkswagen’s first majority-owned joint venture for all-electric vehicles. Volkswagen Group China is investing over EUR 140 million until 2025 in the new plant and its facilities, with the start of production (SOP) targeted for the second half of 2023.