‘I applied for a job with Mercedes-Benz and came down on the train for an interview at Milton Keynes. I had a couple of hours to spare before the train back to Glasgow left and, quite by chance, I saw that the Volkswagen headquarters was nearby. I went up to the reception desk and simply asked if there were any job vacancies. Three weeks later, I started work as area business development manager for the north west of England, covering all four of the car brands!'

‘Within a year, I had moved down to Milton Keynes as project manager within the fleet area and then, not long afterwards, I was asked to set up the finance sales department for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Eventually, I found myself running the whole of the fleet operation at Volkswagen Financial Services, with around 95,000 customers.’

These days, you don’t get to the top in the Volkswagen Group without international experience and Graham moved to Germany as sales and marketing director for Volkswagen Financial Services fleet operations throughout Europe, together with responsibility for Volkswagen Leasing – the largest leasing company in Europe. Then, in 2004, he moved back to Milton Keynes to take up his present post, together with a seat on the board of Volkswagen Group UK.

I asked him about the structure of VWFS in Britain. He explained, ‘We serve three different groups of customers: retailers, retail buyers and fleet operators. Although our services are concerned with finance, the packages we offer vary from one group to another.'

‘To a large extent, all the retailers which market the Group’s products depend on finance from VWFS. When you add up the value of the new cars held in stock, demonstrators and used cars, the investment has to be very high indeed, and individual retailers would be hard-pressed if they had to tie up those sorts of funds. In fact, when a new car arrives in this country, it is essentially owned by Volkswagen Financial Services, which pays the factory, and then we consign it to a retailer. When the retail customer purchases the car from the retailer, VWFS is repaid, ensuring that the retailer does not have to tie up his funds. We also fund demonstrators and used cars so that the retailer can have a full range without running into financial difficulties. Direct loans can be made to retailers for developments and to purchase new equipment.'

‘A completely different range of services are available for retail customers. Volkswagen Financial Services offers its own hire purchase and personal contract plans, called Solutions, as well as packages which cover servicing and consumables like tyres. Through the retailers, customers can choose a scheme which suits their circumstances. 30 per cent of all retail sales are financed by VWFS and 50,000 of our customers are now on fixed-cost maintenance schemes which allow them to plan their expenditure.'

‘Insurance is another major part of the Volkswagen Financial Services operation. Customers are offered insurance on their cars which has the benefit of ensuring that all remedial work is carried out by authorised repairers. With so much emphasis these days on low premiums, many insurers insist that repairs are carried out by their own nominated repairers and this is not always in the best interests of the customer. We also offer Payment Protection cover, and 20,000 customers each year take out GAP insurance to deal with any possible shortfall between the insurance pay out (if a vehicle is written off because of accident damage, fire or theft) and the outstanding finance agreement or original cash price of the car.'

‘Several of these services are also available to fleet customers, with the addition of leasing, contract hire, fleet management, accident management and fuel cards. Our aim is to provide fleet operators with a level of support which makes their whole operation more effective. Generally, the term ‘fleet’ applies to those running at least 25 vehicles but, as far as the Volkswagen Group is concerned, those operating 10 or more vehicles are regarded as fleet users.’

I asked Graham whether any new developments were in the pipeline.
‘We have just introduced the Audi credit card, which is available to Audi owners and enthusiasts, subject to status. We know that Audi owners travel a great deal and one of the benefits of the card is the removal of the foreign exchange handling fee. With other credit cards, a fee of 2.75 per cent is added to every transaction which involves foreign currency; with the Audi Card, this is eliminated. Other benefits include a 10 per cent saving on Audi accessories and fixed-cost maintenance and no interest on any purchases for the first six months.

‘In the new year, the Volkswagen Bank plan to introduce new products for retailers. Transfers between different banks can take far too long and our new facilities will greatly speed up financial transactions for the retailers. With this new initiative, we will be offering our retailers something completely unique.’

Graham Wheeler is a very amiable character, but it is quite clear that he didn’t get to where he is without a great deal of strength and determination. ‘My father died when I was very young,’ he told me, ‘and I have always known the need for self-reliance and hard work.’ He is also a man with lots of ideas about how car ownership can be less expensive and less stressful and, in the near future, we’ll be looking at the ways in which Volkswagen Financial Services will be developing its insurance schemes to make them more attractive to owners.