Volkswagen Financial CEO prioritizes leasing, EV strategy, Wells Fargo transition in 2026

Volkswagen Financial Services will lean further into leasing in 2026. Ernst Jan van Eijkelenburg , president and chief executive for VWFS and region manager for the North American Region, told Auto Finance News that the lender will also focus on supporting dealers through tariff and EV uncertainty into next year after naming Wells Fargo as its preferred financier for Volkswagen and Audi brands in May. [caption id="attachment_58356717" align="alignright" width="145"] Ernst Jan van Eijkelenburg[/caption] VWFS is still defining next year’s strategy, Van Eijkelenburg said. However, top-of-mind goals, he said, include: Growing leasing volume; Helping all brands navigate challenging market dynamics; Adapting to changes in the EV market; and Continuing to drive retail growth, “Going into 2026, it’s not defined yet [but] for me, we will go stronger in our leasing business,” he said. Volkswagen of America ’s sales declined 6% YoY in Q3 to 87,705 units, according to the OEM’s Oct. 1 sales report. Partnering with Wells Fargo Wells Fargo in May was named the preferred lender for Volkswagen and Audi brands in the United States, with the agreement set to expand to Ducati in 2026. Since May 1, retail financing for active brands has been powered and serviced by Wells Fargo. VWFS continues to service retail contracts originated before May and contracts for Ducati. It also has provided customer service for U.S. dealers while leading leasing and mobility solutions. VWFS is still integral to the retail finance program, Van Eijkelenburg said, noting that the Volkswagen or Audi brand names remain in front of customers. “It’s Volkswagen Finance powered by Wells Fargo,” he said. “The brands are showing up as one face to the organization. That’s a strong need from a dealer perspective.” In the near term, VWFS is transitioning to a leasing organization and is in the “end stage of defining what we’re going to do with our leasing activities in 2026,” Van Eijkelenburg said. [caption id="attachment_58356715" align="alignleft" width="397"]<img class="wp-image-58356715 " src="https://autofinancenews.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/439420473-300x200.jpg" alt="A Volkswagen badge on an electric vehicle at the Everything Electric show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Canada announced that it would scrap the 2026 EV sales mandate and launch a regulatory review. Photographer: Paige Taylor White/Bloomberg" width="397" height="280" /> (Photo/Bloomberg)[/caption] VW Credit does business as VWFS. VW Credit’s retail loan managed portfolio as of June 30 decreased 9% year over year to $12.2 billion, according to a Fitch Ratings presale report today of the lender’s latest auto asset-backed securitization transaction issued today. The lender’s lease portfolio stood at $17.1 billion as of June 30, up 5.3% YoY, according to a Sept. 3 S&P Global presale report of the most recent lease ABS deal issued on Sept. 9. Auto Finance News spoke with Van Eijkelenburg regarding his plans for next year, growth opportunities and challenges facing the automotive market. What follows is an edited version of the conversation. Auto Finance News : How has the retail transition to Wells Fargo gone in the first six months since the bank came on board? Ernst Jan van Eijkelenburg: Things went quite smoothly with the transition to Wells Fargo for our retail finance. They are to be seen as the captive finance for retail for our brands Volkswagen and Audi and sometime before summer next year, we’ll transfer Ducati to them. It’s a more specific business, so it took more time to transfer the business to Wells. We are six months down the road, roughly. Rome was not built in a day, and that’s also happening with Wells, but the majority is going quite well. Stakeholders need to get used to it — in this case dealers — and we are working on some adjustments which will be helpful for the dealer organization. Our clear focus, together with Wells, is what we can do to support our brands and our dealers with the Wells transition. AFN : What automotive market trends are you prioritizing heading into yearend 2025 and early 2026? EE: It's been the most interesting year across the automotive landscape in the U.S. That's also applicable for everything related to financial services. Tariffs are having an impact on our brands. We’re seeing how we can maneuver there with the right propositions, not only on lease, but also on retail finance and applicable for our non-asset business like insurance. If I look at the landscape here in the U.S. at this moment from 10,000 feet, monthly installments are getting more important from a U.S. consumer base, whereby lease is contributing to that demand. What you see, especially for premium brands like Audi, the focus and demand for lease is still growing. AFN : How are Volkswagen and VWFS managing the elimination of the federal EV tax credit? EE: With the EV tax credits not in place anymore , you saw a strange curve in August and September where there was a huge pressure on the sellout of battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, also applicable for VWFS. I had lease penetrations over 100% because there were cars at the dealers that were already registered and were leased by us. Editor's note: BEVs made up 11.8% of total new-vehicle sales in September, a new record, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association . However, BEV share fell to 5.9% of new-car sales in October. It was a run on BEV cars in August and September, but that has left the harbor now. Many brands are defining what is going to be the future of BEV going forward here in the U.S. From a long-term perspective, BEV is the solution. You will have some interim solutions like range extenders or hybrid electric vehicles. We are not currently in that space, but we will be coming into that space in the next few years. Going into after 2030 and 2035, the transition to BEV is unavoidable. Discussions around range anxiety are decreasing. I see a lot of opportunities with young, used BEV cars coming back, which are interesting for a second lease. We are discussing with the brands and internally how we can materialize that perspective. We are also piloting our VW Flex vehicle subscription program in Atlanta . The results have been better than I expected. It gives us some insights into what the average U.S. consumer is looking for if he or she is in the market for a short-term solution. While I don’t see subscription as something we’ll roll out in all 50 states, I do see dense areas where there could be higher demand. AFN: How have macroeconomic conditions impacted credit performance? EE: We don’t see a huge stress on our portfolio, but, as applicable for many auto finance companies, payment behaviors are getting a bit slower. They aren’t all going into delinquency, but things like the government shutdown are not very helpful. We are offering deferral support to our customers. The shutdown ended late on Nov. 12. Editor's note: The total rate of delinquencies across VW Credit's managed retail portfolio as of June 30 landed at 1.84%, up 17 basis points (bps) YoY, according to the Fitch presale report. Annualized net losses as of June 30 ticked up 16 bps YoY to 1.09%. Delinquencies across the lease portfolio as of June 30 were down 2 bps YoY to 0.99%, according to the S&P Global presale. Net losses increased 9 bps YoY to 0.45%. We try to support our customers. We want to be seen as a U.S. company. We’re in the U.S. to support leasing and financing and mobility.

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Volkswagen Financial CEO prioritizes leasing, EV strategy, Wells Fargo transition in 2026

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