Volkswagen AG, the group and the brand
Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, abbreviated Volkswagen AG, is a German company registered in Wolfsburg. It heads the Volkswagen Group while also developing components and manufacturing vehicles. Volkswagen Passenger Cars is a brand within that group. Confusing these three levels can attribute the entire group’s revenue to one brand or incorrectly treat a commercial division as a separate legal company.
Volkswagen AG official site notice · Structure and business activities
Origins, post-war recovery and diversification
The company was established in 1937 under the German Labour Front, an organisation of the National Socialist regime. It used forced labour during the war; Volkswagen maintains a memorial dedicated to the victims. This institutional origin should not be replaced with a story about a single individual founder. After 1945, British administration and the recovery of civilian production began another phase. International expansion and acquisitions subsequently reshaped the business: the move into SEAT in 1986 illustrates its development into a multibrand group.
Volkswagen history · Place of Remembrance of Forced Labor in Volkswagen Factory · 1945–1949: British administration and recovery · 1982–1991: New brands, new markets
Brands and businesses within the group
The structure reported for 2025 places Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, SEAT/CUPRA and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Core; Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati in Progressive; and Porsche in Sport Luxury. TRATON coordinates Scania, MAN, Volkswagen Truck & Bus and International. These groupings organise management but do not replace legal entities. The range includes passenger cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, alongside finance, leasing and mobility services.
Structure and business activities · Brand groups and business fields 2025
Shared platforms and value chains
The model combines individual brand identities with shared development, purchasing and technologies. It spans engineering for vehicles, components, software and batteries; production; distribution and aftersales; and finance for customers and dealers. The organisational challenge is to coordinate shared resources while retaining each company’s responsibilities. Transactions between businesses are eliminated or adjusted on consolidation: adding division sales does not automatically reproduce final group revenue.
Structure and business activities · Results of operations 2025
SEAT: a Spanish subsidiary with its own profile
SEAT, S.A. is registered in Martorell, Spain, and belongs to the Volkswagen Group. Its direct shareholder is Volkswagen Finance Luxemburg S.A.; Volkswagen AG is its ultimate parent. The Spanish company warrants its own analysis because of its brands, facilities and operations, but its individual accounts are not additional activity on top of the consolidated group. SEAT, S.A.’s accounting boundary also differs from Volkswagen’s SEAT/CUPRA management reporting.
SEAT Annual Report 2025 · Brand groups and business fields 2025
Share ownership and governing bodies
At 31 December 2025, Porsche Automobil Holding SE held 53.3% of the voting rights attached to ordinary shares; Lower Saxony held 20.0%, and Qatar Holding LLC 17.0%. Voting rights are not interchangeable with percentages of total capital. Porsche SE, the shareholder holding company, is distinct from Porsche AG, the vehicle manufacturer within Volkswagen. Checked on 8 November 2026, Oliver Blume chairs Volkswagen AG’s Board of Management.
Voting rights at 31 December 2025 · Executive bodies: Oliver Blume
Revenue and workforce: different reporting boundaries
Financial figures cover the consolidated group and calendar 2025 under IFRS as adopted by the European Union. Revenue excludes sales of the equity-accounted Chinese joint ventures, whereas the broader workforce total includes them. That workforce also includes people in the passive phase of partial retirement and trainees. Figures are therefore labelled with their reporting boundaries, and the count is not treated as full-time equivalents.
Consolidated financial statements: basis of presentation · Brand groups and business fields 2025 · Total workforce 2025 and reporting boundaries
Markets and important facilities
The group operates in Europe, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific through subsidiaries, facilities and joint ventures. Wolfsburg combines headquarters and production functions; Salzgitter adds cell manufacturing and energy storage; and Martorell hosts SEAT’s industrial activity. This network is not uniform: a development centre, finance company and factory have different functions and occupational exposures. That distinction matters when interpreting both operations and preventive measures.
Brand groups and business fields 2025 · Volkswagen AG official site notice · PowerCo starts first unified cells at Salzgitter, 17 December 2025 · SEAT Annual Report 2025
Batteries, software and new energy businesses
PowerCo announced production of its first unified cells in Salzgitter on 17 December 2025. This is a production milestone, rather than a claim that all planned capacity had been achieved. In March 2026, Elli connected a 20 MW, 40 MWh storage system there. These cases show the value chain expanding into batteries and energy, alongside the software development described in the group’s structure.
PowerCo starts first unified cells at Salzgitter, 17 December 2025 · Elli PowerCenter commissioned, 9 March 2026 · Structure and business activities
Occupational safety: group responsibilities and local implementation
The group’s occupational health and safety policy places hazard identification and risk assessment at the centre of management. It includes physical and mental health and participation by workers and their representatives. Brands, companies and sites implement it within local legal requirements. This structure supports shared criteria but does not itself establish that a particular measure is implemented or effective at every workstation.
Volkswagen Group occupational health and safety policy, version 3.0, effective 1 November 2023
A subsidiary case: ergonomics and thermal conditions
Škoda Auto’s 2025 report describes acceptance procedures for new technologies covering safety and ergonomics, and collective-agreement measures for extreme temperatures, including protective drinks and breaks. It also reports work on psychosocial risks and digitalisation of ergonomic assessment. These are Škoda Auto initiatives. They cannot automatically be attributed to Volkswagen AG or treated as proof of a causal reduction in injuries across the group.
A Spanish case: prevention during electrification
SEAT documents motion-capture trials using SCAMA in 2025 and preventive work during early battery assembly in Workshop 20 at Martorell. This includes installation review, fire protection and training for new technologies. The case illustrates prevention during industrial change. It concerns SEAT, with specified locations and stages, rather than a demonstrated injury-reduction outcome for Volkswagen as a whole.
Outcomes require separate scrutiny
The 2025 report recorded four deaths resulting from work-related accidents or ill health: one employee, one non-employee and two other workers at group sites. Preventive policies therefore do not mean zero fatalities. Certification targeted for production sites with over 1,000 employees by the end of 2026 has a defined scope; it is not a verified universal certification already achieved.
Employees and non-employees: occupational health and safety 2025
Industrial transformation and labour dialogue
In December 2024, Volkswagen announced a reduction of more than 35,000 positions in Germany by 2030 under Zukunft Volkswagen, which it described as socially responsible, together with employment safeguards. This is a transformation horizon, not a count of departures already completed. In September 2026, IG Metall requested a review of investment and product commitments. The union’s position shows that implementation remained a matter of dialogue and dispute; it is not presented as a court finding.
Zukunft Volkswagen agreement, 20 December 2024 · IG Metall requests review of investment and product commitments, 11 September 2026
Climate, energy and conditions for comparison
The group targets net carbon neutrality by 2050 and distinguishes emissions from its operations, purchased energy and value chain. It sets a 2040 horizon for production and associated Scope 1 and 2 emissions. These are corporate targets. Comparing results requires checking coverage, calculation factors and prior-year adjustments; producing an electric vehicle or announcing a factory does not establish that all activity is climate-neutral.
The diesel case and corporate responsibility
On 21 April 2017, a federal court in Detroit sentenced Volkswagen AG following its guilty plea to three felony counts relating to emissions-testing fraud. The accepted agreement included a USD 2.8 billion criminal penalty. This is a documented court outcome, not merely an allegation. The 2025 report continues to discuss diesel-related legal risks and proceedings; the US resolution must not be presented as a universal closure of all litigation.
US Department of Justice: Volkswagen sentenced, 21 April 2017 · Legal risks disclosed in annual report 2025
Frequently asked questions
Are Volkswagen AG and the Volkswagen brand the same?
No. Volkswagen AG is the parent company and also a manufacturer; Volkswagen Passenger Cars is a brand. The group includes other companies and brands with their own operations. [1]
Why can SEAT have its own profile?
Because SEAT, S.A. is a documented Spanish legal entity. Belonging to Volkswagen does not erase its identity, but its figures cannot be added independently to the group total. [1] · [2]
Are Porsche SE and Porsche AG the same company?
No. Porsche Automobil Holding SE is a Volkswagen shareholder; Porsche AG is the sports-car manufacturer within the group. [1] · [2]
Do subsidiary initiatives establish performance across the group?
No. The Škoda and SEAT cases are attributed to those entities. A shared policy, project or site certification does not establish universal coverage or outcomes. [1] · [2] · [3]
