Nimble Volkswagen Financial Services 'places its bets in the right areas'

Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) chief executive officer Mike Todd (left) has become adept at wearing two hats. One is intrinsically linked to the electric vehicle (EV) and mobility aspirations of VW Group; the other manages the demands of multi-marque leasing as a cornerstone of its growth aspirations.

The funding and fleet management provider straddles the business and retail markets, funding 180,000 cars and 21,000 vans, of which around 40,000 are corporate.

The rest is retail contract hire via the dealer network, which includes some business leases. It also manages service contracts for around 680,000 vehicles.

A quarter of its fleet portfolio is non-Volkswagen Group vehicles, a “healthy mix within corporate”, according to Todd. All retail business is own marque.

Over the past 18 months, 40% of its orders have been for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), noticeably ahead of the FN50 average of 25% and an even more striking performance considering VW has only recently entered the electric car market. No surprise, then, that a lot of its recent corporate success has been with non-Volkswagen brands, such as Tesla.

With the introduction of the Volkswagen ID3 and ID4, and forthcoming Golf GTE, Tiguan, Touareg and Arteon PHEVs, plus corresponding launches by Audi, Škoda and Seat, the balance could tilt back. VWFS, while happy to embrace a group-level policy to conquest customers to own-marque brands, insists it will never force the market.

“We have a mantra and that’s to enable the customer to make an informed decision,” says Todd. “We get a customer on board and then look after them with a view to when they are renewing their vehicle, that we are the funder. And then it’s how we create opportunities for our sister brands to be suitably positioned, putting propositions to the customer that look attractive and are appropriate, but always understanding their requirements.