Audit of the annual and consolidated financial statements

In line with our proposal, the Annual General Meeting of Volkswagen AG on May 12, 2022 elected EY as auditors and Group auditors for fiscal year 2022. The auditors confirmed the annual financial statements of Volkswagen AG, the consolidated financial statements of the Volkswagen Group and the combined management report by issuing unqualified audit reports in each case. The Audit Committee had also agreed with the auditor that the auditor would inform the Audit Committee if, while conducting the audit, matters were identified that constituted an inaccuracy in the Declaration on the Code submitted by the Board of Management and Supervisory Board. The auditor did not inform the Audit Committee of any such matters.

The Supervisory Board also commissioned EY to conduct an external limited assurance review of the content of the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022.

In addition, the auditors analyzed the risk early warning and monitoring system that is integrated into the Risk Management System, concluding that the Board of Management had taken the measures required by section 91(2) of the AktG to ensure early detection of any risks endangering the continued existence of the Company. The Report on Relationships of Volkswagen AG with Affiliated Companies as per section 312 of the AktG (dependent company report) submitted by the Board of Management for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022 was also audited by the auditors, who issued the following opinion: “In our opinion and in accordance with our statutory audit, we certify that the factual disclosures provided in the report are correct and that the Company’s consideration concerning legal transactions referred to in the report was not unduly high.”

The members of the Audit Committee and the members of the Supervisory Board were provided with the documentation relating to the annual and consolidated financial statements, including the dependent company report, the documentation relating to the combined management report, and also the audit reports prepared by the auditors and the report from EY on the external audit of the content of the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022 in good time for their meetings both on March 2, 2023. The auditors reported extensively at both meetings on the material findings of their audit and were available to provide additional information. The Chair of the Audit Committee was also in close contact with the auditors, including between the meetings and during preparation for the Audit Committee meetings, about the progress of the audit and reported to the Audit Committee on this. The Audit Committee consulted regularly with the auditor, including without the Board of Management.

Taking into consideration the audit reports and the discussion with the auditors, and based on its own conclusions, the Audit Committee prepared the documents for the Supervisory Board’s examination of the consolidated financial statements, the annual financial statements of Volkswagen AG, the combined management report, the dependent company report and the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022, and reported on these at the Supervisory Board meeting on March 3, 2023. Following this, the Audit Committee recommended that the Supervisory Board approve the annual and consolidated financial statements. We examined the documents in depth in the knowledge and on the basis of the report by the Audit Committee and the audit report, as well as in talks and discussions with the auditors. We came to the conclusion that the documents were drawn up in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that the assessment of the position of the Company and the Group presented by the Board of Management in the combined management report corresponds to the assessment by the Supervisory Board.

We therefore concurred with the auditors’ findings and approved the annual financial statements and the consolidated financial statements prepared by the Board of Management at our meeting on March 3, 2023, which the auditors also attended for the agenda items relating to the annual and consolidated financial statements, the dependent company report and the combined management report. The annual financial statements are thus adopted. Upon completion of our examination of the dependent company report, there are no objections to be raised to the concluding declaration by the Board of Management in the dependent company report. We reviewed the proposal on the appropriation of net profit submitted by the Board of Management, taking into account in particular the interests of the Company and its shareholders, and endorsed the proposal. EY conducted an external audit of the content in the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022 to attain limited assurance and issued an unqualified report. At our meeting on March 3, 2023, EY also took part in the discussions on the agenda items relating to the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022. Upon completion of its own independent examination of the combined separate nonfinancial report for 2022, the Supervisory Board did not have any objections. We also resolved that, together with the Board of Management, we would prepare the remuneration report for fiscal year 2022. The Executive Committee prepared the resolution of the Supervisory Board concerning the preparation of the remuneration report. As well as reviewing whether the remuneration report contained all the disclosures required by law, EY went beyond statutory requirements to audit its content and issued an unqualified report.

We would like to offer our thanks and particular appreciation to the Board of Management, the Works Council, the management teams and all the employees of Volkswagen AG and its affiliated companies for their work in 2022. The year 2022 again brought many, in some cases major challenges to overcome – particularly the dramatic and far-reaching implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. With hard work and a high level of personal commitment, they all made a decisive contribution to what was a successful 2022 fiscal year for the Volkswagen Group.

Wolfsburg, March 3, 2023

Hans Dieter Pötsch
Chair of the Supervisory Board