More efficiency in legal entity management

Volkswagen AG

The Volkswagen Group's investment portfolio comprises approximately 1,500 active investments, around 1,300 inactive "historical" investments and 1,100 external companies with investment relevance.

In addition to the almost 4,000 companies, legal entity management also has to keep track of 750 clubs/associations, 300 reporting units and 3,300 auditing firms.

Standardized data storage and maintenance in one application with all relevant content is therefore a real value-adding factor. The legal entity management zetVisions CIM with its modules adapted to the needs of Volkswagen AG reduces effort, minimizes sources of error and creates maximum transparency. Manual work steps, such as e-mail communication and documents as attachments, are replaced by system-supported, workﬂow-based processes.

Since the introduction of zetVisions CIM, we have been able to avoid transmission errors thanks to fewer manual comparisons and have achieved an enormous reduction in costs.

Matthias Bredow Group Legal Group Coordination Volkswagen AG

The challenge

VW AG had been working with the "Betis" investment information system - an Oracle database developed in-house - since the 1990s. However, the reporting lines for the departments involved in the process of investment management and the maintenance of company data were not always clear: there were no cross-departmental responsibilities, no single point of contact for the formation, acquisition or modification of companies.

Data was maintained, stored and used multiple times. At the end of the year, considerable effort was regularly required to ensure the uniformity, consistency, up-to-dateness and completeness of the data through manual reconciliation. The main problem was that there was no uniformity in the spelling of the companies and legal forms (company names).

Our mission

Optimization of legal entity management through a uniform input platform for the entire Group.

SAP-based management of complex investment structures.

Detailed. Precise. Profitable.

Corporate Investment Manager

The solution

CIM's rights and roles concept, which is based on the organizational structure of Volkswagen AG, ensures defined responsibilities through roles that are independent of department. For example, Group holdings can now be processed by a legal or finance role. The same applies to auditing companies, reporting units, tax offices and clubs/associations. In addition, the system created an audit-proof dual control principle through separate data entry and approval.

Since the go-live of CIM in mid-2017, this system has been used to manage not only Group companies, but also mandates (Management Board, Supervisory Board) as well as external companies and VW shareholders.

With CIM as the single point of truth, the Volkswagen Group creates its list of shareholdings and the list of companies in a system-based and reliable manner.

By reducing the number of manual reconciliations, we avoid transmission errors and achieve an enormous minimization of costs.

Matthias Bredow Group Legal Group Coordination Volkswagen AG

How VW benefits from CIM

Unique data storage and maintenance in one application
Historical mapping of changes, legal form-oriented recording of capital, document management
System-supported, workflow-based processes
Dedicated rights and role concept based on the organizational structure
Audit-proof multi-eye principle through separation of data input and release
System-based creation of shareholdings and the company register

Volkswagen AG

Founded in 1937 and based in Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen Group is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe.

Ten brands from five European countries belong to the Group: Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, ŠKODA, SEAT, CUPRA, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche and Ducati. The Commercial Vehicles division primarily comprises the development, production and sale of light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania, MAN and Navistar brands. The VW Group operates 120 production sites in 19 countries in Europe and ten countries in America, Asia and Africa and employs 662,575 people. The Volkswagen Group sells its vehicles in 153 countries. In the 2021 financial year, the Group generated sales revenue of €250.2 billion.