Refinancing
REFINANCING STRUCTURE OF THE VOLKSWAGEN GROUP
as of December 31, 2024
The Volkswagen Group was able to successfully refinance on the international capital markets in what was a challenging market environment in 2024 by issuing both secured and unsecured bonds in various currencies and with varying terms.
It placed bonds on the US capital market via Volkswagen Group of America Finance, LLC with a total volume of USD 6 billion in March and August 2024. Two notes, each with a volume of CAD 750 million, were issued in the Canadian refinancing market.
After Volkswagen International Finance N.V. became active locally on the Chinese capital market for the first time in 2023, it also issued what is known as a Panda bond worth CNY 1.5 billion in September 2024.
In the reporting year, Volkswagen International Finance N.V. issued bonds with a total volume of €1.0 billion based on a Green Finance Framework.
Volkswagen International Finance N.V. also duly called a hybrid note issued in June 2018 with a principal amount of €1.25 billion to be redeemed as of June 27, 2024.
In March 2024, TRATON Finance Luxembourg S.A., an indirect subsidiary of TRATON SE, issued bonds in two tranches with a total volume of €1.25 billion.
Public euro benchmark bonds structured as green bonds were issued for €7.75 billion for the Financial Services Division.
In addition to this, securities were issued in various currencies and regions via various issuing companies in the respective divisions of the Volkswagen Group.
Alongside the issuance of senior, unsecured bonds, asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions were another element of our refinancing activities. In Europe, public ABS transactions with a total volume of €2.75 billion were placed. Public ABS transactions were also issued in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and China.
The Volkswagen Group was also actively involved in the commercial paper market with several issuing companies.
The proportion of fixed-rate refinancing instruments in the past year was about twice as high as the proportion of floating-rate instruments.
In our refinancing arrangements, we generally aim to exclude interest rate and currency risk as far as possible with the simultaneous use of derivatives.
The following table shows which financial instruments were utilized on the money and capital markets as of December 31, 2024 and illustrates the financial flexibility of the Volkswagen Group:
Financial instruments |
|
Authorized volume |
|
Amount utilized on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Unsecured commercial paper and bonds |
|
295.5 |
|
111.4 |
of which: commercial paper |
|
|
|
7.3 |
bonds |
|
|
|
104.1 |
of which hybrid issues |
|
|
|
13.7 |
Asset-backed securities |
|
105.3 |
|
53.6 |
Volkswagen AG’s syndicated credit line of €10.0 billion agreed in December 2019 was unused at the end of 2024.
Of the confirmed syndicated credit lines with a total of €17.0 billion at other Group companies, €1.0 billion has been drawn down. The Volkswagen Group continued to have bilateral confirmed credit lines with national and international banks in various countries for a total of €5.3 billion, of which €1.0 billion was drawn down.