Volkswagen Bank to relocate to Liffey Valley
Volkswagen Bank is set to relocate to Volkswagen Group Ireland’s headquarters in Liffey Valley, Dublin as part of a move to create a centralised campus for the marque’s Irish business.
Stefan Smith, General Manager of Volkswagen Bank Ireland and Volkswagen ambassador Catherine Fulvio pictured as Volkswagen Group Ireland welcome Volkswagen Bank to their headquarters in Liffey Valley, Dublin as part of a move to create a centralised campus for Volkswagen’s Irish Business.
Volkswagen Bank continues to support the Volkswagen group’s brands through the provision of flexible finance packages. This has seen Volkswagen maintain its position as number one car brand in Ireland in 2015. Volkswagen Group Ireland had the largest share of the Irish car market in a market that grew by 30 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year. 2016 is expected to see a further 30 per cent growth in the market.
Volkswagen bank lent over €350 million to Irish motorists in 2015. Through innovative products, including Personal Contract Plans (PCP) which Volkswagen Bank introduced to the Irish Market in 2009, Volkswagen Bank increased the number of contracts year on year by 41 per cent. PCP contracts are continuing to increase in popularity with the bank now offering PCP for all new and used cars across all Volkswagen Group brands, this has led to an increase in PCP contracts by 105 per cent with PCP now accounting for 71 per cent of the bank’s overall business versus 55 per cent in 2014. A Personal Contract Plan (PCP) is a fixed rate, fixed term car funding arrangement with a guaranteed minimum future value underwritten for the car. This value is deferred to the end of the agreement, reducing monthly payments during the term of the finance agreement.
Volkswagen Bank currently employs 61 at its premises in Sandyford Estate in Dublin and a further six with Volkswagen Insurance Company Limited. Volkswagen Bank expects to expand its numbers with 20 new positions when they move to Volkswagen Group Ireland’s Liffey Valley headquarters.
Volkswagen Group Ireland currently has 150 in its Liffey Valley headquarters. For the combined businesses, the total number of employment is expected to grow to approximately 250 over the next 18 months with the arrival of Volkswagen Bank and Volkswagen Insurance Company Limited. Building works are now completed having increased capacity and creating new office space.
Commenting on the move, Lars Himmer, Managing Director, Volkswagen Group Ireland : “This is a sign of the growing joint business in Ireland. It will provide for greater strengths and positive synergies between our sales and finance businesses, which is set to become even more important in a growth market.”
According to Stefan Smith, the newly appointed General Manager of Volkswagen Bank Ireland: “The joint objective of VWGI and VWBI is to bring branded affordability to the Irish automotive market, providing innovative financial solutions like PCP and Service Plans to our customers purchasing a Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, SKODA or Volkswagen Commercial vehicle. Moving into the same offices will ensure closer alignment between our businesses as we develop and launch the next phase of exciting new vehicles and supporting financial services to our customers.”
Volkswagen Bank now finances 37.5 per cent of the cars sold by Volkswagen Group Ireland, increasing from 29.4 per cent in 2014.With the group’s market share now standing at almost 30 per cent Volkswagen Bank is now financing over 1 in 3 new cars sold by Volkswagen Group Ireland.