Volkswagen Group Financial Services
The Financial Services Division includes the Volkswagen Group’s dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance activities, fleet management and mobility offerings. The division comprises Volkswagen Financial Services and the financial services activities of Scania and Porsche Holding Salzburg.
The Financial Services Division’s products and services remained very popular in fiscal year 2018. At 7.6 (7.3) million, the number of new financing, leasing, service and insurance contracts signed worldwide exceeded the comparable prior-year figure. The ratio of leased or financed vehicles to Group deliveries (penetration rate) in the Financial Services Division’s markets was 33.7 (33.4)% in the reporting period. As of December 31, 2018, the total number of contracts was 19.6 million, up 6.4% from the year before. The number of contracts in the customer financing/leasing area climbed 5.4% to 10.6 million, while it increased by 7.6% to 9.0 million in the service/insurance area.
In the Europe/Other markets region, the number of new contracts signed between January and December 2018 increased by 3.9% to 5.6 million. The penetration rate rose to 48.4 (47.6)%. At the end of the reporting period, the total number of contracts was 14.2 million, an increase of 6.0% as against December 31, 2017. The customer financing/leasing area accounted for 6.7 million contracts (+5.6%).
The number of contracts in North America as of December 31, 2018 increased to 2.9 million, 6.0% more than in the previous year. The customer financing/leasing area accounted for 1.9 million contracts (+5.6%). The number of new contracts signed amounted to 935 thousand, an increase of 7.0% versus the previous year. The ratio of leased or financed vehicles to Group deliveries in North America was 66.3 (60.5)%.
In South America, 236 (205) thousand new contracts were signed in the past fiscal year. The penetration rate increased to 29.1 (26.6)%. At the end of the reporting period, the total number of contracts was 487 thousand, 9.4% fewer than at the end of 2017. The contracts mainly related to the customer financing/leasing area.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the number of new contracts signed rose by 6.7% to 889 thousand units in 2018. The ratio of leased or financed vehicles to Group deliveries was 14.8 (16.1)%. On December 31, 2018, the total number of contracts amounted to 2.1 million, up 14.6% on the previous year. The customer financing/leasing area accounted for 1.6 million contracts (+8.3%).