Ratings

In 2017, the rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service conducted the regular update of their credit ratings for Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen Financial Services AG and Volkswagen Bank GmbH.

In November 2017, Standard & Poor’s confirmed its short-term and long-term ratings of A–2 and BBB+ for Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Financial Services AG, and of A–2 and A– for Volkswagen Bank GmbH. The outlook for Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Financial Services AG improved from “negative” to “stable” due to the better than expected operating performance. The outlook for Volkswagen Bank GmbH was left unchanged at “negative”.

Moody’s Investors Service left the short-term and long-term ratings of Volkswagen AG unchanged at P–2 and A3 respectively. In September 2017, the long-term rating for Volkswagen Financial Services AG was lowered by one notch from A2 to A3. The rating for Volkswagen Bank GmbH was downgraded by three notches from Aa3 to A3. The short-term rating of Volkswagen Financial Services AG was lowered by one notch from P–1 to P–2, while that of Volkswagen Bank GmbH remained unchanged at P–1. These changes were due to the completion of the reorganization at Financial Services AG: Volkswagen Bank GmbH is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. This means that the financing structures of Volkswagen Bank GmbH and Volkswagen Financial Services AG are examined separately. The outlook for all three companies is still classed as negative.