Even worse, Volkswagen’s main car brands – VW, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti – plunged into the red in 2004 and remained there in Q1 this year. Fortunately for the car maker, there are still some bright spots in the group, most notably Volkswagen Bank, whose main business is financing the purchase of VW-branded cars in nine European countries, including Germany.
Founded in 1949, the bank has emerged as Europe’s biggest auto financier, with balance sheet assets of €21.4bn and an inventory of about 1.4 million consumer car loans. It has distinguished itself by an ability to innovate. In the early 1990s, it unveiled one of Germany’s first online banks, which, beyond providing an account with overdraft protection, offers credit cards, trading with securities and even building loans. Today, the online bank has racked up 625,000 users and a deposit volume of €8bn.
