Societal Impact

Society and the Volkswagen Group are inextricably linked, each shaping and influencing the other. As a global company, we are committed to social engagement.

MATERIAL IMPACT AND ITS INTERACTION WITH STRATEGY AND THE BUSINESS MODEL

The Volkswagen Group’s materiality assessment has identified an actual and potential positive impact arising from the Group’s social engagement, which is assigned to the Societal Impact focus area as part of the regenerate+ Group sustainability strategy. Societal Impact refers to refers to of a company’s own activities and initiatives that aim to have a positive impact on society, while also taking economic, social and environmental aspects into account.

As a globally active company and a good corporate citizen, the Volkswagen Group aims to be a driver of economic and social momentum. At a local level, this can contribute to factors including structural development, the promotion of equal opportunities and support for social participation. The Group has always believed in the importance of recognizing its social responsibilities.

Corporate citizenship is a key element of the Volkswagen Group’s social engagement and includes philanthropic activities and the funding of environmental, educational and social projects at numerous sites worldwide. The focus areas are based on the regenerate+ Group sustainability strategy, which specifically implements and reports on projects that have a direct positive impact on one or more of its four dimensions. The following section includes the range of Societal Impact topics that have been defined under regenerate+, with corporate citizenship being treated as a material focus, but not the sole focus.

The activities are carried out at the Volkswagen Group’s sites. The groups and communities targeted by these activities include, among others, people or groups who live and work near the Volkswagen Group’s operating sites and are or could be affected by the undertaking’s activities and initiatives. These also include communities whose living conditions are positively affected by projects or investments. For example, there are community projects at the production sites. These are to remain in place in the future and can make a positive contribution to the environment and society.

Interaction with strategy and business model

The impact identified in the materiality assessment has an influence on the Group’s business model, strategy and value chain. Societal impact is anchored at an overarching level within the society dimension of regenerate+. Work on the Societal Impact framework was continued in the reporting year 2025.

The Volkswagen Group is dealing with the effects of its material impact on its business model, strategy and value chain in the area of societal impact by implementing Global Corporate Citizenship activities, setting up a Sustainability Impact Fund and making Group-wide donations. These actions aim to preserve and enhance the positive impact.

A detailed description of all actions is provided under “Actions: Societal Impact”.

Policy: Societal Impact

The Volkswagen Group is an employer that operates production sites around the world. In all these places, the Group assumes responsibility for employees and non-employees and their families, but also for social and economic development around the sites. The Volkswagen Group addresses the positive impacts of its business activities on society with interlinked strategies and Group-wide policies. These policies are set out in Group policies.

The Societal Impact policy consists of the management of sub-topics related to the focus area. The following section explains which strategies and policies address this sub-topic of social responsibility within society in the Volkswagen Group and how these are related to the topic area of Societal Impact defined in regenerate+.

Embedding Societal Impact

The Volkswagen Group is pursuing two aims with regenerate+: to be a socially responsible employer for its employees and to assume corporate social responsibility. As an active partner in society, the Group aims to work responsibly with local and international organizations in a spirit of partnership and trust. The aim is to use resources and skills for the common good, by taking actions that promote a fair, inclusive and open society and supporting healthy and intact natural ecosystems. At the same time, all communities should have the same opportunities to participate in a forward-looking economy and benefit from sustainable mobility systems.

In addition to the strategic conclusions of the global basic understanding, a Societal Impact framework has been created as part of regenerate+. This framework consists of the three following main components, which could potentially influence the Volkswagen Group’s Societal Impact:

• Global Corporate Citizenship activities
• Sustainability Impact Fund
• Group-wide donations

regenerate+ offers a common framework that covers the Volkswagen Group’s social engagement and enables actions to make a positive contribution to society and the environment.

A detailed description of regenerate+ is provided in the “General Information” chapter under “Business model, value chain and strategy”.

Policies on the management of societal impact

Group-wide policies are used to implement the principles and fields of focus anchored in the strategies. The following Group policies describe policies that contribute to the topic of Societal Impact and the resulting framework. The Group policies apply to the companies controlled by the Volkswagen Group. The department responsible checks whether they are up to date at least once a year and amends them if necessary. The Group policies are accessible on the intranet.

As explained above, the Societal Impact focus area is tracked via the regenerate+ Group sustainability strategy. Insofar as specifications are required, these should be revised within the Group sustainability management policy as part of the core sustainability management processes and therefore also include the management of the material positive impact. Existing Group policies related to the sustainability-related topics of corporate citizenship and donations serve as the policy for the main components of the framework.

For instance, the Group sustainability management policy defines various core processes to enable the Group to manage and report on sustainability in an efficient manner. The aim is to achieve the continuous improvement of the Group’s sustainability performance. The Chair of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG has overall functional responsibility for sustainability management, while the Group Sustainability department is responsible for implementing the policy and the management system at operational level. The reporting requirement for local engagement activities in the form of corporate citizenship projects by the respective brands and production sites is also defined in the sustainability reporting process. A detailed description of Group sustainability management and the associated structures, processes and responsibilities is provided in the “General Information” chapter under “Sustainability management”.

As a sub-area of Societal Impact, the granting of donations and sponsorship is also governed in a Group policy. The objective of this Group policy is to ensure that donations and sponsorships are made in accordance with the applicable legal provisions and the Company’s standards of integrity. The Group policy therefore describes the requirements as well as the underlying processes and procedures for the initiation, review and approval of donations and sponsorship, taking into account the respective approval limits and responsibilities. The Chair of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG has overall functional responsibility for donations, sponsorship and brand ambassador agreements, while the Group Communications – Management and Events department is responsible for implementing the policy and the management system at operational level.

Actions: Societal Impact

For the Volkswagen Group, societal impact refers to the impacts that projects or investments can have on society.

The actions related to corporate citizenship that aim to have a positive impact on local communities and the local environment are described below.

Global Corporate Citizenship activities

Targeted local initiatives tailored to the production sites aim to bring about positive change in society in the medium and long term. These actions and projects are implemented in various areas such as health, education, the environment, social justice and economic development, and contribute to the four dimensions of regenerate+. They encompass a number of activities ranging from the provision of resources to the running of programs and the implementation of technology by the Volkswagen Group or its units. These projects are managed locally under the responsibility of the competent units. The methodology used to record global projects was adjusted in recent years. Since the reporting year 2024, the Volkswagen Group has been using a mandatory, standardized questionnaire to collect information annually on projects implemented by the individual brands and regions. This collects information on existing projects that were being implemented during the reporting year. The questionnaire also records each project’s direct link to the Group sustainability strategy, as well as its scope, the inputs used and the outputs achieved. Along with predefined metrics, project-specific indicators can be specified here. In addition, the person responsible also assigns the project to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides a subjective assessment of the project’s impact. The Global Corporate Citizenship activities metric takes account of all the Volkswagen Group’s individual brands and regions that carried out relevant projects here in the reporting year and reported them accordingly.

In the reporting year, more than 200 (206) global projects were reported as local engagement activities at Volkswagen Group sites around the world. Around 77% of the projects have a potential positive impact on the community or region in the direct vicinity of the site, such as Wolfsburg/Germany, Ingolstadt/Germany, Bologna/Italy, Pune District/India, Chattanooga/USA, Puebla/Mexico, Guanajuato/Mexico or Polkowice/Poland. In addition, approximately 18% of the projects have a potential positive impact at national level (for example within China, France, Spain, or the Czech Republic) and around 5% at international level.

There are over 200 global projects that contribute to one or more impact categories of regenerate+ at an overarching level and are intended to promote positive impacts on society and the environment. The focus of the outcome is on the “Strengthening local communities and resilience” and “Poverty reduction and social security” societal impact categories. In addition, the projects are expected to have positive impacts on the Group’s own employees (for example in the areas of “Education and knowledge transfer” or “Health and well-being”) and on nature (for example in the categories of “Healthy ecosystems and biodiversity” or “Climate change mitigation”).

Sustainability Impact Fund

In the year under review, the Volkswagen Group launched a Sustainability Impact Fund, which supports in-house projects around the world that promote environmental, social and economic sustainability. The Sustainability Impact Fund is therefore a Group-wide tool for the effective promotion of projects related to regenerate+. The funded projects are intended to achieve goals such as empowering local communities and strengthening social cohesion, effectively improving biodiversity, and also promoting innovation solutions to improve environmental challenges.

In 2025, the Impact Fund supported projects including corporate volunteering programs, biodiversity projects at sites, and initiatives to tackle environmental challenges.

Group-wide donations

Donations are voluntary contributions to a scientific, charitable, cultural, political, or religious cause which are made without receiving anything in return from the recipient. Donations can have beneficial effects – for example, in tackling social problems, responding to humanitarian crises, reducing negative environmental impacts, and strengthening the resilience of communities. The Group-wide donations figure takes into account all consolidated companies of the Volkswagen Group that made donations in the reporting year.

The Volkswagen Group donated a total of donated a total of €73.7 (61.4) million in 2025. This amount also includes large donations made as part of humanitarian emergency aid, which were decided on at a short notice and provided immediately thereafter.

Targets: Societal Impact

The Volkswagen Group generally develops targets where there is a connection to its strategies. The Societal Impact framework forms part of the Group sustainability strategy and is developed on an ongoing basis. The overarching focus for this topic is initially on identifying suitable methods and standards for appropriately assessing their societal impact.

There are currently no control-relevant targets with regard to global Corporate Citizenship activities and Group-wide donations. Phased targets were also developed for the Sustainability Impact Fund. The Volkswagen Group aims to provide up to €20 million per year through this fund until 2029 in order to promote sustainable developments in every dimension of regenerate+.

The setting of additional strategic (intermediate) targets and their further development up to the measurement of the impact, and hence the effectiveness of the strategies and actions in relation to the material sustainability-related impact, is planned for a medium-term time horizon.