Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited (VWFS) and its leasing arm, Volkswagen Group Leasing (VGL), is continually looking to provide as broad a range of profitable products and services for Volkswagen Group retailers as possible.

Traditional retail finance and insurance products such as the Solutions PCP, GAP insurance and fixed-cost maintenance plans are designed to give the retailer more reasons to engage with the customer and open up income opportunities. It is part of the VWFS “working with our customer” philosophy which has seen major improvements in the way Volkswagen Group retailers view VWFS.

Another example of the approach of trying to maximize retailer returns comes from the leasing arm, VGL, which, while seeking to secure corporate and fleet business in its own right from the small-to-medium size fleet sector, always works closely with the retail network in funding and supplying any fleet business.

A good case in point is the latest contract to supply vehicles to Leicestershire Police which has approved the Skoda Octavia 2.0 vRS for use as an immediate response vehicle. The latest addition to the fleet was recently delivered to chief superintendent Nigel Hughes, under a new leasing arrangement with VGL, and was supplied by Farmers Skoda Leicester. Leicestershire Police operates 40 Octavia vRS models as immediate response vehicles on its fleet of over 400 vehicles. It has introduced a leasing scheme from VGL for superintendent ranks who are required to make their vehicles available for operational use.

Chief superintendent Hughes is the first officer to take delivery of a vehicle under this scheme and chose the Octavia 2.0 vRS as his personal vehicle. He said: “I am frequently on call 24/7 and need a vehicle that combines performance with practicality and above all value for money as the costs are met by me as an individual. The Octavia vRS fits the bill perfectly.”

VGL, which supplied the funding for the vehicle, operates as the leasing arm of VWFS, and offers contract hire, leasing and other fleet service related products for all vehicles within the Volkswagen Group. VWFS managing director, Graham Wheeler said: “Our aim is to provide our retailers with as many opportunities as possible across as broad a range of products and services as we can make available to them. This may come through finance and insurance products aimed directly at the retail customer, or through vehicle supply opportunities through our leasing arm.”