Braunschweig, 10 May 2022. Volkswagen Financial Services made a strong start to 2022 despite the geopolitical turmoil and disrupted supply chains. The portfolio of current contracts rose slightly during the first quarter to around 22.1 million contracts, an increase of 0.9 percent. New contracts acquired were down 2.7 percent year-on-year to 1.9 million units. "Owing to the tight delivery situation that exists for new cars, we have had to accept a decline in new business contracts. However, we have compensated for part of these declining figures with a strong insurance and services business," explained Anthony Bandmann, Board Member for Sales at Volkswagen Financial Services AG. The operating result increased by 64.6 percent to around EUR 1.5 billion. "Our quarterly result continues to be impacted by special effects. In addition to the continued stability of risk costs for credit and residual value risks, the very good marketing results from our used car business due to the sustained high demand were a key driver behind the growth in earnings," said Frank Fiedler, Chief Financial Officer of Volkswagen Financial Services AG. He added: "Nevertheless, against the backdrop of political and macroeconomic developments that we still cannot estimate, we remain cautious and are sticking to our earnings forecast for 2022 of around four billion euros."
New business in the used vehicle segment developed positively. The number of new contracts amounted to 208,944, up 8.2 percent over the same period last year. There were also increases in the service and insurance contracts for used vehicles. "Our focus on the used vehicle business is showing sustained success," said Anthony Bandmann. He added: "The global expansion of this business area remains an important factor for our future growth."
In Germany, the largest single market for Volkswagen Financial Services, new contracts declined in the first quarter to around 455,300 units (previous year: 468,500; minus 2.8 percent). The total contract portfolio also decreased in Germany, falling 1.5 percent to 6.19 million units (previous year: 6.28 million units).