Volkswagen Group’s financial results reveal its Financial Services Division’s operating profit fell a third below the previous year’s profit due to the normalisation of used car prices.
Although the division contributed €3.8 billion to the Group result, used car values impacted profit.
In 2021 and 2022 the residual values of used cars rose as a result of semiconductor-related shortages of new vehicles, but values have since stabilised.
Oliver Blume, CEO Volkswagen Group, said: “Volkswagen Group is entering the long-distance race of transformation from a position of strength.
“At the same time, we are aware of our challenges and are tackling them consistently to leverage the enormous potential of Volkswagen Group.”
Despite the challenging environment in 2023, VW focused on combatting this with its progress in electrification and a flexible product strategy.
VW will implement its largest earnings programme to date, aiming for over €10 billion across the entire Group by the end of this year, in order to soften the impact of inflation and increased costs.
Investments in the five-year plan for 2025 to 2029 can be limited to €170 billion. Investments will focus on new products, the battery business and platforms for BEVs and hybridised combustion engines.
These investments are expected to peak in 2024 and approach 11% of sales revenue by 2027.
The company will share more than 30 new products in 2024, including high-performance all-electric vehicles. Its share of battery-electric vehicles in deliveries rose successively, peaking at around 10% in Q4. BEV share reached 8.3%, a new record.