Annual Report 2024

About this Sustainability Report

For the reporting year 2024, Volkswagen AG is issuing acombined, non-financial statement (sustainability report) for the Volkswagen Group and Volkswagen AG. The combined, non-financial report is drawn up in accordance with sections 315c, in conjunction with sections 289c through 289e of the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB – German Commercial Code). For the reporting year 2024, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) were applied in full for the first time as a framework for the sustainability report (sustainability statement) as they provide the basis for the provisions on sustainability reporting in accordance with the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Notes on use of the ESRS

General explanations on the standards.

The ESRS currently comprises 12 standards, two of which are overarching standards setting out general requirements (ESRS 1) and general disclosures (ESRS 2). An additional ten topical standards address environmental, social and governance topics:

  • Environmental information (Environment, E standards): climate change (ESRS E1), pollution (ESRS E2), water and marine resources (ESRS E3), biodiversity and ecosystems (ESRS E4), resource use and circular economy (ESRS E5);
  • Social information (Social, S standards): own workforce (ESRS S1), workers in the value chain (ESRS S2), affected communities (ESRS S3), consumers and end-users (ESRS S4);
  • Governance information (Governance, G standard): business conduct (ESRS G1).

Each standard is based on disclosure requirements containing specific datapoint requirements. The disclosure requirements relevant to the Volkswagen Group were determined by means of a double materiality assessment. The Annex to the Sustainability Report contains a detailed index indicating which ESRS disclosures can be found in which section of the report.

Scope of the report

Volkswagen AG’s sustainability report was prepared on a consolidated basis. The scope of consolidation was identified using the consolidated financial statements as a basis. The report generally covers all fully consolidated companies within the Volkswagen Group. The following adjustments were made for the gathering of data related to environmental information and information on business conduct:

  • E standards: Data is gathered primarily for the fully consolidated production companies. In addition, the two controlled, but not fully consolidated companies Volkswagen Sarajevo d.o.o., Vogosca/Bosnia and Herzegovina and Audi Formula Racing GmbH/Neuburg an der Donau are also included in this scope. Furthermore, the Chinese vehicle and component production joint ventures, over which the Group has operational control, are primarily taken into account for certain disclosures pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions and energy, emissions to air and water, and biodiversity-sensitive areas.
  • G standard: The disclosures under corruption and bribery in the chapter on “Business conduct information” take all controlled companies into account. The controlled companies also represent the scope of application for awareness-raising and training measures, depending on their individual risk profiles pursuant to the internal compliance risk assessment (ICRA).

Both the upstream and downstream value chain is taken into account in the assessment of impacts, risks and opportunities. The option of a gradual introduction was taken in selecting datapoints.

Methodological specifications

Methodological specifications were used in the preparation of the sustainability report.

The following time horizons were applied in reporting unless otherwise indicated:

  • The short-term time horizon corresponds to a period of less than one year after the end of the reporting year.
  • The medium-term time horizon is the period from the end of the short-term reporting period up to a period of five years.
  • The long-term time horizon comprises all periods in excess of five years.
  • Where disclosures are required in relation to specific circumstances within the meaning of ESRS 2, this is clearly indicated for the relevant datapoints.
  • The sustainability report also contains an index for ESRS datapoints that derive from other EU legislation. This can be found in the Annex to the Sustainability Report.