volkswagen ag is looking to increase its protection against foreign currency risks with longerdated derivatives said rolf woller head of the auto makers treasury and investor relations departments where it is advantageous for us we increase hedging quotas going out as far as 2026 or 2027 mr woller said the wolfsburg germanybased company uses currency hedges to reduce cash flow risks he said the recent weakness of the euro against the us dollar isnt all negative for volkswagen as the company pays for certain commodities in us dollars and exports vehicles to the us mr woller said mr woller said he coordinates with the finance chiefs of the various volkswagen brands and sets hedging ratios based on those conversations i need plan volumes from my brands so i can hedge this he said adding that volkswagen usually has a fiveyear plan for its currencyhedging program rising interest rates in the us and elsewhere partly benefit the company as it earns higher interest on consumer loans in its financial services business mr woller said a large chunk of the companys debt is tied to that business and needs to be refinanced when maturities come due he said volkswagen had about 165 billion eurosequivalent to 16406 billionin net debt at the end of june according to data provider sp global market intelligence up from eur1617 billion at the end of 2021 the company in recent months placed a us dollar bond as well as a green bond currently about 47 of volkswagens financing tools consist of sustainable bonds or similar instruments mr woller said adding the company wants to increase that to at least 50 the number of sustainability investors is increasing he said in 10 years you will probably not find a plain vanilla bond that doesnt have a sustainable element