Mobility Services
Christian Dahlheim
Chairman, Volkswagen Financial Services
TITLE: Chairman, Volkswagen Financial Services
COMPANY: Volkswagen Group
BASED: Brunswick, Germany
AGE: 54
NATIONALITY: German
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Christian Dahlheim holds a degree in physics from the Technical University of Munich, as well as graduate degrees in business from the University of California, Los Angeles and the European Business School. He started his career at Procter & Gamble in 1993, then joined Boston Consulting Group in 1997. Dahlheim joined Volkswagen Financial Services in 2004 as head of corporate development and communications. He became regional manager Europe and International in 2008. In 2012 Dahlheim moved to the U.S. with VW Credit, where he became CEO in 2014. He moved back to Germany in 2016 as head of sales and marketing with VW Financial Services. After three years as head of group sales at Volkswagen starting in October 2018, he was named Chairman of VW Financial Services in February 2022.
REASON FOR WINNING
Dahlheim has been shaping the vision of new mobility in his roles at VW Group, including in financial services and as head of group sales at the Volkswagen brand. As CEO of VW Financial Services, he led the acquisition of a controlling stake in Europcar this year, with plans that go far beyond simply renting cars.
With its partners Pon Holdings and Attestor, VW plans to take Europcar private. VW will position Europcar at the center of its mobility services strategy, which will encompass traditional rentals, car-sharing, subscriptions, leasing -- and autonomous vehicles after 2025. "The rental car business is a profitable business," Dahlheim says. "Sharing and subscription are fundamentally renting a car, so we believe if you have one fleet that you offer as rentals, sharing or subscriptions, depending on customer needs, that is a successful business model."