Press Release

Braunschweig, 27 September 2023. Volkswagen Financial Services (VW FS) is introducing bike leasing for their employees starting from 4 December 2023. This will enable employees of the Braunschweig-based financial and mobility services provider to lease bicycles and e-bikes through their employer at an affordable price. A collective agreement recently concluded between the IG Metall union and Volkswagen AG is the basis for the bike leasing program. The leasing itself is handled by "Lease a Bike", a brand of Bike Mobility Services GmbH (BMS), in which VW FS recently acquired a 49 percent stake. The bicycle leasing scheme extends the range of health promotion options on offer and is also intended to reduce commuter traffic.

Dr. Alexandra Baum-Ceisig, the Member of the Management Board at Volkswagen Financial Services AG with responsibility for Human Resources and Organization, said: "I am very pleased that we are offering a sustainable mobility alternative at attractive conditions. With bike leasing for employees, we have added another component to enhance our attractiveness as an employer and are fulfilling both our social and ecological responsibilities. This is a win-win situation for everyone involved."

"The new in-company agreement is a well-rounded overall package that includes deferred compensation (income conversion), an employer subsidy, and service and security benefits up to the takeover option at the end of the lease. In addition, the partners and children of our colleagues will also be able to participate in the bike leasing. I'm particularly pleased that we were able to negotiate and arrange this last aspect," stressed Andreas Krauß, Chairman of the Joint Works Council of VW FS.

Contents of the in-company agreement

The approximately 7,000 employees of Volkswagen Financial Services in Germany can choose their bikes and place their orders through specialist retail partners. The monthly leasing installments are paid via gross deferred compensation. The standard leasing term is 36 months, with an option to purchase thereafter.

All employees covered by the "Tarif" agreement or the "Tarif Plus" agreement as well as members of the management and upper management circles are eligible to lease. Trainees and dual students can also take advantage of the offer. Partners and children in the same household can also use the leased bicycles. Each employee can lease up to four bikes, while each apprentice and dual student can lease up to two.

There are no specific model or brand requirements for choosing a bike: it can be a regular bicycle or an e-bike (up to 25 km/h), a recumbent bike or a cargo bike. All types of bicycles (price range from EUR 499 to EUR 5,950 gross) are generally available for leasing, provided they are offered by the specialist retail partners and the bicycle leasing provider "Lease a Bike", a brand of BMS.

BMS is Europe's leading bike leasing company and operates in six countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, and recently the USA). It is currently providing company bikes to over 600,000 employees working in 65,000 companies from large corporations to SMBs. 90 percent of its lease bikes are electric, delivered and serviced through a network of 8,000 bike dealers. The BMS brands are Lease a Bike, BusinessBike, and B2B Bike. In Germany, VW FS and BMS have already been working together successfully for over three years. BMS is part of Pon.Bike, the world's leading bicycle company.

Christian Wölbern, Managing Director of Lease a Bike, stated: "The cooperation with VW FS opens up new opportunities for us to advance our mission of sustainable mobility. Together, we can have an even greater impact and make more sustainable, healthier and affordable mobility possible on a broad scale."

More information can be found at: www.lease-a-bike.de 

Volkswagen Financial Services are a business division of the Volkswagen AG group of companies and comprise Volkswagen Financial Services AG along with its associated companies, Volkswagen Bank GmbH, Porsche Financial Services, and the financial services companies in the USA and Canada that belong directly or indirectly to Volkswagen AG – with the exception of the financial service business of the Scania brand and of Porsche Holding Salzburg. The key business fields embrace dealer and customer financing, leasing, bank and insurance activities, fleet management and mobility services. Volkswagen Financial Services have a total of 17,713 employees worldwide – including 7,692 alone in Germany. Volkswagen Financial Services report total assets of around EUR 240 billion, an operating profit of EUR 5.60 billion, and a portfolio of around 22.0 million current contracts (as at: 31.12.2022).

More information can be found at: www.vwfs.com