Volkswagen is well-positioned to fund electrification, claims VW CFO

Volkswagen is well-positioned to fund its electrification strategy, said its finance chief Arno Anlitz while speaking about the automobile group's earnings of around $9.30 billion from the IPO of Porsche and with a possible listing of its battery unit on the cards. The Volkswagen CFO also said that the carmaker would stick to its outlook of reaching around an 8.5 per cent operating profit margin this year, claims Reuters.

The claim from the VW CFO comes despite the energy price hike, logistics bottlenecks and inflation boosting its production and overall operating costs. He also said that the carmaker aims to carry on the passing of higher prices to customers while also attempting to reduce fixed costs in-house. "The aim is to reduce costs and still offer affordable cars for Volkswagen," Antlitz said to the news agency.

The German automobile major raised around 19.5 billion euros in proceeds from the Porsche listing, with 49 per cent going to the shareholders as a special dividend at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen has justified the listing, taking place against a backdrop of volatile markets in Europe, in part as a means to raise funds for its 52 billion euro electrification plans. "We are well set-up financially have strong cash flows to fund our electromobility strategy ourselves," Anlitz said. However, he has ruled out the possibility of IPO listing of other car brands under the VW umbrella, including Audi, a premium brand and a huge moneymaker for Volkswagen.

Speaking about the chip crisis that has been bothering the auto industry for quite some time, he said that the shortage and related disruption would continue into 2024 as well. Volkswagen is one of the most affected car brands due to this crisis.

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