Helping to finance the German car industry in its transition

Volkswagen is fully committed to becoming net carbon neutral by 2050. The Group currently focuses on realigning its businesses from being one of the best carmakers to become a globally leading provider of sustainable mobility by transforming the automobile business expanding into battery technology, software and autonomous driving. 

Six focus areas have been confirmed by the Volkswagen Group Steering Committee for Sustainability and defined in its Green Finance Framework: decarbonization, circular economy, responsibility for supply chains and business, diversity & inclusion, people in the transformation and integrity. 

Financing the transition

Financing the shift from a carmaker to a software driven mobility provider requires massive investments though. 

The most recent transaction to help finance this shift comes via the issue of a dual-tranche green hybrid bond which attracted a total of €1.9 billion from international markets. Societe Generale acted as an Active Bookrunner on this transaction which managed to garner a high level of interest from investors.

With one of the broadest offerings in the market, Societe Generale is at the forefront of innovation, in order to design bespoke solutions for our clients, such as Volkswagen. Thus, we are proud to assist them in their transition journey with state-of-the-art solutions to support their evolving needs, Martin Wagenknecht, Head of Debt Capital Markets Germany, Austria & Switzerland, Societe Generale