display
Braunschweig (dpa) - The financial subsidiary of the VW Group (VWFS) was able to curb the initially feared larger loss of used car residual values in the Corona year 2020.
In the summer, the division - primarily responsible for car loans, leasing and insurance in the Volkswagen Group - assumed that the economic consequences of the pandemic would entail considerable risks for many consumers, e.g. from leasing contracts.
Ultimately, there were no residual value losses, "that go beyond the normal situation," said CFO Frank Fiedler on Thursday when the annual figures were presented.
CEO Lars Henner Santelmann explained: "In the spring we deliberately left the cars in stock and not put them on the market at big discounts."
At that time, the first corona wave reached Europe, the home market of the VW subsidiary with headquarters in Braunschweig.
From May and June the used car market relaxed significantly.
VWFS also operates a traditional bank, but the group primarily uses it as a sales channel for its own models.
With leasing, the provider is exposed to a residual value risk if the lessee or commercial customer returns the car after the agreed time and VWFS cannot get the desired, pre-calculated price on the market.
display
The management now sees uncertainties among other things among commercial customers who may have to file for bankruptcy.
In many European countries, the obligation to notify in the event of over-indebtedness or insolvency has been suspended due to the crisis.
If bankruptcies pile up after these moratoria expire, loan defaults could ensue.
For VW, for example, this could become an issue in southern Europe and Brazil this year, said Santelmann.
The high subsidies for electric cars meanwhile weigh on the residual values of other cars because new vehicles appear more attractive than used ones.
The group is currently working on assessing this risk, and the number of returns is still low.
According to Santelmann, VW sells around three quarters of the cars with the new ID.3 via leasing.
In 2020, Braunschweig's operating profit fell by a good 5 percent to 2.8 billion euros.
The development was thus significantly better than assumed in the middle of the year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210325-99-969759 / 2