Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare the 66th Annual General Meeting of the Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. In accordance with the Articles of Association, I assume the Chair of the meeting. I would like to welcome you, the shareholders, shareholder representatives, members of the media, and all other members of the audience. On behalf of my colleagues on the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management. The Annual General Meeting will take place at Eisbach Studios in Munich and will be held as a virtual Annual General Meeting within the meaning of the German Stock Corporation Act. In addition to myself, the Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Mrs. Christiane Benner, and the entire Board of Management are present here today. Ms. Benner will address Agenda Items 7A and 7B and, like myself, will answer the questions put to the Supervisory Board. Moreover, she will stand in for me should I no longer be able to Chair the meeting. The other members of the Supervisory Board will participate by way of video and audio transmission. Only Mrs. Julia Willie Hamburg, minister, can attend only in about an hour's time due to an obligation that cannot be postponed. In addition, the notary public, Mr. Sebastian Harrer, who is drawing up the notarial records required of the German Stock Corporation Act, as well as the company's proxy holders, are also present here today. Ladies and gentlemen, let's take another look at the 2025 fiscal year. The Volkswagen Group has held its own in an environment characterized by geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and intense competition that has further strengthened its foundation. With a total of around 30 new models, as well as innovative products that are high in demand on the market, significant progress has been made in the strategic realignment. The group's future-oriented programs have begun to take effect. Restructuring measures are being pursued consistently, and t he group's transformation strategy is being pursued in a measurable manner. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank the Board of Management, the Works Council, the Management, all employees of the Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and the staff of its affiliated companies for their hard work, their great personal commitment, and their high level of dedication. 2025 was a challenging year. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to express our special appreciation. We will discuss the strategic challenges we face in greater detail later on, as well as how the various bodies work together to address them. The Annual General Meeting has been convened in accordance with the legal requirements of our Articles of Association. The convening notice was published in the Federal Gazette on the 5th of May 2026. The Board of Management has decided to hold a virtual annual general meeting again this year. This format makes it easy to take part and ensures that all shareholders' rights can be exercised. At the same time, the virtual format is efficient and resource-friendly. We are aware that there are differing views on this matter. We will continue to take these experiences carefully into account in our deliberations. Ladies and gentlemen, you can find information and documents relating to this year's annual general meeting on our website in the Investors section under the heading Annual General Meeting. Our shareholders can follow the entire annual general meeting via the shareholder portal. The public broadcast will include Dr. Blume's speech, the Supervisory Board's report, and Ms. Benner's explanations on Agenda Items 7A and 7B. A recording of these speeches and presentations will be made available on our website at a later date. You could also find the written versions of the speeches there in the run-up to the Annual General Meeting. As is customary, it is not permitted to record the Annual General Meeting, and a verbatim report will not be prepared. You can find the register of attendance on the Shareholder Portal. You can exercise your voting rights by electronic absentee vote or by authorizing the company's or third-party's proxy holder via the Shareholder Portal. Only ordinary shareholders and their representatives are entitled to vote at this meeting. You can also register to speak via the Shareholder Portal. This feature is already available to you. Once you've registered your request to speak, you will be invited to a technical check in due course. I reserve the right to restrict the right to speak and ask questions, particularly in cases where the timely conclusion of the Annual General Meeting cannot be guaranteed otherwise. I hereby stipulate that the right to information as defined in Section 131, Paragraph 1 of the German Stock Corporation Act may only be exercised by means of video communication during the Annual General Meeting. Duly registered shareholders were also able to submit written statements prior to the Annual General Meeting. If you wish to lodge an objection to a resolution adopted at today's annual general meeting, you can also do so via the Shareholder Portal. This feature has been available to you since the start of the AGM and will remain active until the AGM closes. You also have the opportunity to submit complaints for the record via the Shareholder Portal if, in your opinion, questions have not been answered at all or only inadequately. So much on the necessary formalities. Ladies and gentlemen, since our last annual general meeting, a number of distinguished members of the Volkswagen Group have passed away. Let us take a moment's silence in memory of those who've passed away. I would now like to ask the members of the Board of Management and Ms. Benner to stand. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now summarize the Supervisory Board's report and discuss the changes that have taken place within the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management since the last Annual General Meeting. Ms. Benner will then speak on Agenda Item 7A and 7B, and the Board of Management will then present its report to you. This is followed by the debate. Once the debate is concluded, the vote will take place. Ladies and gentlemen, let me start by presenting the Supervisory Board's report. Since the conclusion of last year's annual general meeting, there have been two changes in the composition of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. On the 20th May 2025, Mr. Stephan Weil, former Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, stepped down from the Supervisory Board. The State of Lower Saxony appointed Prime Minister Olaf Lies as his successor with effect from the 20th of May 2025. On the 4th of July 2025, Mrs. Marianne Heiß also stepped down from the Supervisory Board. Mrs. Susanne Wiegand was appointed by the court as successor with effect from the 5th of July 2025 on a fixed-term basis until the conclusion of today's annual general meeting. Furthermore, in accordance with Section 11, Paragraph 2 of the Articles of Association of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, my term of office as a member of the Supervisory Board will come to an end as scheduled upon the conclusion of today's annual general meeting. As you will have seen from the agenda, the Supervisory Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting on the recommendation of the Nomination Committee that Mrs. Wiegand be elected to the Supervisory Board for a full term of office with effect from the conclusion of today's annual general meeting. However, Mrs. Wiegand informed us yesterday that she will not stand for re-election. Therefore, we will not have a vote on the re-election of Mrs. Wiegand. She will retire from the Supervisory Board after the conclusion of today's AGM. Following a recommendation from the Nomination Committee, the Supervisory Board has also decided to nominate me for re-election to the Supervisory Board for a full term of office. In reaching its decision, the Supervisory Board took into account the fact that at the time of the election, I was a few weeks over the standard retirement age of 75, as stipulated to the Supervisory Board's rules of procedure. I've decided to stand for re-election to the Supervisory Board. Thanks to my many years of service with the Volkswagen Group, I've gained extensive experience and knowledge in the company's business areas, which, in the opinion of the Supervisory Board, I will continue to contribute in the future in the best interests of the company. It is also in the company's interest that I continue, subject to my election by the Supervisory Board, to contribute to the transformation of the Volkswagen Group in my role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. I'm happy to comply with this request. My aim has been, is, and will continue to be to do my bit to make this great company weather-proof. I'm convinced that by working together in a spirit of cooperation and with determination, we will lay the groundwork for a successful future. The Supervisory Board continues to adhere in principle to the defined standard age limit for members of the Supervisory Board. However, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management have declared a deviation from the recommendation of the German Corporate Governance Code to define an age limit for members of the Supervisory Board. My CV, as well as further information on my nomination, are set out in the annex to the agenda. I've already stated that I will accept the election should I be re-elected today. There's been one change in the composition of the Board of Management since the conclusion of last year's annual general meeting. With effect from the end of the 4th of July 2025, Mr. Gunnar Kilian stepped down from the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. The duties of the Human Resources department, which he previously oversaw, have since been taken over by Mr. Thomas Schäfer. I would like to extend a warm words of thank you to Mrs. Heiß, Mr. Weil, Mrs. Wiegand, and Mr. Kilian, and like to thank them for their excellent cooperation. I would like to welcome Mr. Lies warmly. Ladies and gentlemen, in fiscal 2025, the work of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG and its committees again focused on the Volkswagen Group's strategic alignment, its further development in the core markets, and its transformation. The Supervisory Board was regularly dealing with the company's position and the development in the reporting year. We supervised and supported the Board of Management in its running of the business and advised it on issues relating to the management of the company, particularly also on sustainability issues, in accordance with our duties under the law, the Articles of Association, and the rules of procedure. The Supervisory Board was directly involved in all decisions of fundamental importance to the group. Additionally, we discussed strategic considerations with the Board of Management at regular intervals. The Board of Management complied with its disclosure obligations, which are set out in the information policy adopted by the Supervisory Board. The Board of Management provided us with information regularly, promptly, and comprehensively, both in writing and orally, particularly on all matters of relevance to the company relating to its strategy, business development, and the company's planning and position. This also included the risk situation and risk management. We were regularly informed about the views and interests of affected stakeholders with regard to sustainability-related impacts within the scope of statutory reporting requirements, as well as reporting requirements laid down by the Supervisory Board. We received the documents relevant to our decisions in good time for our meetings. At regular intervals, we also received a detailed report from the Board of Management on the current business position and the forecast for the current year. I met regularly with the CEO to discuss important current issues. These included, among others, the group's strategy and planning, its business development, and the risk situation and risk management, including integrity and compliance issues in the Volkswagen Group, and sustainability issues. However, the Supervisory Board has not only maintained very close contact with the Board of Management but also has engaged in a dialogue with our stakeholders. I have held regular discussions with investors on matters specific to the Supervisory Board and in consultation with the Board of Management also on matters not specific to the Supervisory Board. One of the focus areas of the debate was corporate governance. I informed the Supervisory Board of any discussions with investors after they had taken place. The Supervisory Board held a total of eight meetings in fiscal 2025. Five of the meetings were held face-to-face and three as video or conference calls. The attendance rate calculated for all meetings held during the fiscal year and for all Supervisory Board members in office was at 95%. Supervisory board members who did not attend a meeting for reasons other than a possible conflict of interest were able to engage with the meeting topics using the preparatory documents and could participate in the resolutions by means of written votes. Particularly urgent matters were decided upon either at meetings convened at short notice as video conference calls or using the written circulation procedure. The Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board held 10 meetings during the year under review. The Nomination Committee had one meeting. The Audit Committee met four times. The Mediation Committee did not have to be convened in 2025. A detailed account of the matters discussed at the meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees, as well as an overview of the individual attendance of Supervisory Board members at the meetings, can be found in the Supervisory Board report on pages 12 to 14 of the Annual Report. Ladies and gentlemen, on the 14th of November 2025, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board issued the Annual Statement pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act regarding the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. On the 27th of April 2026, we updated the Declaration of Conformity. The Declaration of Conformity and its supplement are available on our website in the Investors section under the ESG tab and the heading Corporate Governance and via the Declarations or Explanations link. Further details on the implementation of the recommendations and suggestions of the German Corporate Governance Code can be found in the Corporate Governance section from page 18 onwards, in the notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements on page 641 of the Annual Report. The Audit Committee has agreed with the Board of Management on a suitable procedure for the ongoing monitoring of related party transactions within the Volkswagen Group. During the reporting year, there were no instances in which the regulations on related party transactions triggered a requirement for approval or a disclosure obligation. The report on relations with affiliated companies submitted by the Board of Management has been audited by the auditors, EY. The Supervisory Board also examined the Dependent Company Report and declared that following its examination, it had no objections to the declaration made by the Board of Management at the end of the Dependent Company Report. The Supervisory Board has also commissioned EY to carry out an external substantive review of the 2025 Consolidated Non-Financial Statement. Following its own independent review of the 2025 Consolidated Non-Financial Statement based on the findings of EY, the Supervisory Board had no objections. We also decided to draw up the Remuneration Report for the 2025 fiscal year in conjunction with the Board of Management. In addition to the statutory completeness audit, EY also reviewed the Remuneration Report and issued an unqualified audit opinion. So much for my report. The full written report of the Supervisory Board can be found on page 11 of the Annual Report and on our website in the Investors section under the heading Annual General Meeting. On this website, the Remuneration Report is also available. Ladies and gentlemen, this brings us to agenda Item 7. Item 7A on the agenda concerns the approval of a settlement agreement with D&O insurers, including obligations to not assert claims against current and former members of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board and indemnification obligations. Item 7B concerns the confirmation of the resolution adopted by the 2021 Annual General Meeting on the approval of the settlement agreement with a former Chairman of the Board of Management, Professor Dr. Martin Winterkorn. As I was not involved in the Supervisory Board discussions and decision-making regarding this proposal, I shall now hand over to my deputy, Ms. Benner. Ms. Benner, over to you. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, Agenda Items 7A and 7B concern settlements concluded in connection with the diesel issue. This topic was already addressed at the Annual General Meeting in 2021, which approved liability settlements with Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler, as well as a coverage settlement with Volkswagen's D&O insurers, in each case with extremely large majorities of more than 99.9% in each case. These resolutions were preceded by an investigation lasting more than five years into the causes and responsibilities relating to the diesel issue. The investigation found, in particular, that Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler had breached their duties of care under stock corporation law. No breaches of duty by other former or current members of Volkswagen's Board of Management or Supervisory Board were identified. The Supervisory Board, therefore, resolved in June 2021 to conclude the liability settlements with Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler, which were submitted to the Annual General Meeting in 2021 for approval. In their liability settlements, Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler agreed to pay own contributions of EUR 11.2 million and EUR 4.1 million, respectively. In June 2021, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management also resolved to enter into a coverage settlement with Volkswagen's D&O insurers, which was also submitted to the Annual General Meeting in 2021 for approval. This coverage settlement from 2021 is referred to in the notice convening today's annual general meeting as the Coverage Settlement 2021. By way of clarification, the so-called directors' and officers' liability insurance, or D&O insurance for short, is a type of liability insurance that a company takes out to cover financial losses incurred by members of its Board of Management and Supervisory Board, as well as certain senior executives. If the company successfully sues its board members or senior executives for damages, the D&O insurers are obliged to pay the damages up to the amount of the sum insured. Volkswagen's D&O insurance takes the form of a policy for the entire Volkswagen Group. For this reason, Audi and Porsche were also involved in the Coverage Settlement 2021. Under the Coverage Settlement 2021, the participating D&O insurers had committed to paying the Volkswagen Group around EUR 270 million. Volkswagen had agreed to pass on slightly more than 34% of this amount to Audi and 14.5% to Porsche, after deducting the legal defense costs already incurred and pending insurance payments. Berkshire, one of the D&O insurers, was not a party to the Coverage Settlement 2021. In July 2025, a supplementary coverage settlement worth EUR 7.7 million was concluded with Berkshire. Across the group, the settlement amounts from the Coverage Settlement 2021 and the Berkshire coverage settlement, as well as the own contributions made to Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche by the persons against whom claims were asserted, add up to approximately EUR 296 million. As is customary in practice, the D&O insurers insisted on comprehensive settlement of the insured event. Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche therefore undertook in the Coverage Settlement 2021, never to assert any claims against members of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board, as well as other insured persons in respect of whom no breach of duty was established. In addition to the diesel issue, these waivers of liability covered other facts and circumstances that, in view of the D&O insurers involved, are related to the diesel issue. In the case of Volkswagen, the waivers of liability covered all current and former members of Volkswagen's Board of Management and Supervisory Board, with the exception of Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler. These waivers of liability did not result in any financial disadvantage for Volkswagen. This is because, with the exception of the claims asserted against Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management did not identify any claims against members of the Board of Management or the Supervisory Board, or against other insured persons in connection with the facts and circumstances to which the waiver of liability related. Volkswagen, therefore, did not waive any claims that actually existed. Ladies and gentlemen, Volkswagen's Annual General Meeting in 2021 approved of the liability settlements with Professor Winterkorn and Mr. Stadler, as well as the Coverage Settlement 2021 with the D&O insurers. Shareholders brought legal action against these approval resolutions. The Regional Court of Hanover dismissed these actions in their entirety, with the Higher Regional Court of Celle then dismissing the plaintiffs' appeals in full. Both courts found that the actions were unfounded in every respect and fully upheld Volkswagen's legal position. However, following the plaintiffs' further appeal, the Federal Court of Justice, by judgment dated 30th of September 2025, declared the approval resolution on the Coverage Settlement 2021 to be void. As regards the approval resolutions on the liability settlements, the Federal Court of Justice referred the case back to the Higher Regional Court of Celle for a new hearing and decision. The Federal Court of Justice did not find any deficiencies regarding the contents of the approval resolutions or the settlements. Instead, its decision is based on formal grounds. With regard to the approval resolution on the Coverage Settlement 2021, the Federal Court of Justice held that it was not sufficient to merely note in the further information on the agenda that the coverage settlement included the already explained waivers of liability vis-à-vis current and former members of Volkswagen's Board of Management and Supervisory Board. According to the Federal Court of Justice, this should have been noted in the agenda itself. As regards the approval resolutions on the liability settlements, the Federal Court of Justice found itself unable to conclusively assess whether questions from shareholders regarding the financial capacity of Professor Winterkorn and of Mr. Stadler, and the significance of this for the conclusion of the settlements, might not have been adequately answered. For this reason, the Federal Court of Justice referred the case back to the Higher Regional Court of Celle for further review in this regard. As a consequence of the Federal Court of Justice's decision, the approval resolution on the Coverage Settlement 2021 is void, with the result that the Coverage Settlement 2021 itself is likewise invalid. The same applies to the supplementary coverage settlement with Berkshire. The approval resolutions on the liability settlements, however, remain in effect at this time, and in Volkswagen's view, will continue to do so. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that these approval resolutions might also be declared void in court proceedings. Against this background, Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche entered into a new coverage settlement with the D&O insurers on March 10th, 2026, which has been referred to in the notice convening the Annual General Meeting as the Coverage Settlement 2026. The D&O insurers previously involved in the Coverage Settlement 2021, as well as Berkshire, are parties to this Coverage Settlement 2026. The Coverage Settlement 2026 is largely consistent with the Coverage Settlement 2021 in terms of content. The D&O insurers have undertaken in the Coverage Settlement 2026 to pay a settlement amount of approximately EUR 278 million. This total consists of the settlement amount from the Coverage Settlement 2021 of approximately EUR 270 million and the amount from the Berkshire coverage settlement of EUR 7.7 million. Technically, the D&O insurers involved are not required to pay these amounts again. Instead, the payments already made remain with Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche. It was necessary to conclude the Coverage Settlement 2026, so that Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche can retain the total amount of approximately EUR 278 million. As regards the Coverage Settlement 2026, it is already apparent from the agenda for today's annual general meeting itself that like the Coverage Settlement 2021, it contains the already explained waivers of liability vis-à-vis current and former members of Volkswagen's Board of Management and Supervisory Board members. In this way, we are taking account of the Federal Court of Justice's view that this should already be noted in the agenda for the Annual General Meeting itself. The waivers of liability laid down in the Coverage Settlement 2026 correspond to those already laid down in the Coverage Settlement 2021. The scope of the waivers of liability is described in the agenda and in the report of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management on Agenda Items 7A and 7B. The Supervisory Board and the Board of Management have also resolved to propose to the Annual General Meeting that the approval resolution on the liability settlement with Professor Winterkorn be confirmed. Confirmation resolutions are expressly provided for in the German Stock Corporation Act and are customary in practice. The proposed confirmation contains the explanation that the approval resolution of the Annual General Meeting 2021, and therefore the original liability settlement with Professor Winterkorn, should remain valid despite potential formal deficiencies. No new approval resolution is to be adopted. No new liability settlement was concluded with Professor Winterkorn. Volkswagen is convinced that the approval resolution on the liability settlement with Professor Winterkorn does not suffer from any formal deficiencies. We are in particular convinced that all shareholder questions in this regard were adequately answered, also with regard to the financial capacity of Professor Winterkorn and the significance of this for the conclusion of the settlement. In light of the Federal Court of Justice's decision, Volkswagen nevertheless asked Professor Winterkorn, prior to this annual general meeting, to provide information about his financial circumstances. Professor Winterkorn then stated that in view of his right to privacy, he did not wish to provide any detailed information about his private financial circumstances. He did, however, clarify that in his estimation, the information regarding the financial situation given by Volkswagen to the Annual General Meeting in 2021 was accurate. When concluding the liability settlement with Professor Winterkorn, the Supervisory Board acted on the assumption that his private assets were far from sufficient to compensate for the damages attributable to him. The Supervisory Board based this estimation on the income received by Professor Winterkorn from Volkswagen and Audi since 1996, and the cash value of the pension entitlements acquired by him during this time. For the Supervisory Board, it was clear from the outset on this basis that it was unrealistic to expect the claims for damages, as estimated by Volkswagen, to be paid in full. Nothing has changed in relation to this estimation. Further details can be found in the report of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management on Agenda Items 7A and 7B. The damages suffered by Volkswagen deemed attributable to Professor Winterkorn today have not changed in any relevant way since 2021 and still equate to approximately EUR 2.5 billion. Against this backdrop, we are still of the opinion that it would be unrealistic to expect to be able to enforce the existing claims for damages against Professor Winterkorn in full, even if Volkswagen were to win in court. We have provided further details regarding the proposed resolutions, in particular, the reasons for these in the report of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management on Agenda Items 7A and 7B. The further information on the agenda also contains the full text of the report submitted to the annual general assembly in 2021, as well as all relevant settlements. We are not proposing that the approval of the liability settlement with Mr. Stadler be confirmed. Mr. Stadler has in the meantime received a final and unappealable criminal conviction from the Munich Regional Court for offenses relating to the diesel issue. Mr. Stadler paid the own contribution of, at the time, EUR 4.1 million agreed with him by, among other things, waiving claims to severance payments against Volkswagen and Audi. These claims were subject to the condition precedent of all criminal proceedings against Mr. Stadler in connection with the diesel issue ending without any findings of criminal fault. Since this condition has not been met, Mr. Stadler's own contribution now has an economic value of only EUR 420,000. Whether the liability settlement with Mr. Stadler remains valid, therefore depends on the outcome of the proceedings referred back to the Higher Regional Court of Celle by the Federal Court of Justice. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll now come back to the proposed resolutions that we are asking you to approve today. On the approval of the Coverage Settlement 2026 and the confirmation of the 2021 approval resolution on the Liability Settlement with Professor Winterkorn. The responsibility of Board of Management and Supervisory Board members for damages in connection with the diesel issue was already comprehensively assessed prior to the annual general assembly in 2021. These assessments led to the conclusion of the settlements, which were approved by the annual general assembly in 2021 with extremely large majorities of more than 99.9% in each case. In our opinion, the developments in the interim have not changed the assessment from 2021 in any relevant way. The explanations provided at the time with regard to the Coverage Settlement 2021 and the Liability Settlement with Professor Winterkorn, therefore continue to apply unchanged. In view of this, we are convinced that both the conclusion of the Coverage Settlement 2026 and the confirmation of the approval resolution on the Liability Settlement with Professor Winterkorn offer the best possible solution in terms of Volkswagen's interests. The payments already made by the D&O insurers and Professor Winterkorn do not have to be reimbursed but will remain with the Volkswagen Group. In addition, the submitted resolutions serve to implement the will of the shareholders as declared in 2021. The alternative to the settlements would be to reverse the payments already made by the D&O insurers and Professor Winterkorn and assert their claims in court. This would trigger significant additional costs and presumably take many years. Asserting claims in court would also involve considerable litigation risks. In our opinion, it is therefore clearly in the interest of Volkswagen and the Volkswagen Group to bring the legal investigation of the diesel issue with regard to the responsibilities of the Board of Management and Supervisory Board members under civil law to a quick and legally certain conclusion as proposed. We therefore propose that the Annual General Meeting approve the Coverage Settlement 2026 and confirm the 2021 approval resolution on the Liability Settlement with Professor Winterkorn. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your attention and would now like to hand back to Mr. Pötsch. Thank you very much, Ms. Benner. I would now like to ask Dr. Blume to present the report of the Board of Management. Dr. Blume, over to you. Thank you, Mr. Pötsch. Dear shareholders, dear members of the Supervisory Board, dear colleagues. Welcome to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Volkswagen AG. I'm delighted you could join us here today for this virtual AGM. Currently, there is a lot of information on a variety of topics relating to the Volkswagen Group, and that can be a little complex. I would therefore like to present the key coordinates that define our company's position to you today, and I'm basing this on figures, data, and facts. I'm going to talk about where we stand, where we're making progress, and where we need to take action. We believe it is important that you, as our shareholders, can form a balanced view of the risks and of the opportunities of your investment. For us, 2025 was a year of action, a year when we pitched in, a year when we delivered. We resolutely forged ahead with our plan. We delivered compelling products to our customers. We translated technological innovations into tangible added value. We've made great progress in the core areas of our company. Above all, we kept our promises. We're maintaining the momentum. We have a clear vision. We want to become the world's most attractive car maker by 2030. We have a strategy and we have a plan in place. We have the strength, the talents, and the experience to realize this ambition. Before we turn our attention to the future, let us take a moment to look back at the past and also at what is currently on our agenda. The potential of the Volkswagen Group lies in the strength of our brands. Our products excite and inspire customers all over the world. We continued our model push in 2025, once again, launching 30 new models across all the brands, across all segments and drivetrains, including highlights as the Tayron and the new T-Roc from Volkswagen, the Škoda Elroq, the A6 e-tron, and the new Q3 from Audi, or the Lamborghini Temerario, the electric Cayenne, or the new 911 derivatives from Porsche. The feedback we get from the markets and the media is extremely positive. Numerous prestigious international awards are proof of that. For example, in Germany, we got six Golden Steering Wheels and the first place in 10 Best Cars categories. This is something that we never previously achieved, in fact, no other car maker. It's a historic result. In 2025, we were also recognized as the World's Most Innovative Automotive Group, based on an independent scientific study from the Center of Automotive Management. We were able to send a particularly strong signal in e-mobility. In 2025, our global deliveries of all-electric vehicles grew by approximately 1/3. In Europe, the growth in this business even topped 2/3. With a market share of 27% in 2025, we're Europe's clear front-runner for all-electric vehicles. We're ahead of the competition by a large margin. Five out of the 10 best-selling electric models in Europe came from our group. Our order figures have gone up further by another 21%. We're not stopping there because our electric urban car family now showcases the strength of our group. Four models, three brands, and one platform. Intelligent scaling with state-of-the-art technologies. We have 80% carryover parts. The brand identities clearly are differentiated through design. The world premieres of the Cupra Raval, Volkswagen ID. Polo, and Škoda Epiq say it all. Our cars are an inspiration for the experts and the trade media, just as they are for our customers. It is affordable e-mobility in the entry-level class, a segment that has a high growth potential. In China, we're also demonstrating how we can turn a strategy into tangible results. We have fundamentally repositioned ourselves in a market that is changing faster than any other. Three years of realigning and of transforming our business. Now we have shifted to delivery mode. Our In China for China strategy is gaining traction. We have built our largest Research and Development Center outside Germany in Hefei, China. We've reduced our vehicle development times by 30%, cut our material costs by as much as 50%. In terms of technologies and costs, we are on par with Chinese competitors. We're adding to our traditional strengths of brand, of design, of quality, of driving characteristics, safety, and services. We're turning them into a clear market benefit. We offer state-of-the-art functions that Chinese customers expect, from automated driving and special entertainment solutions to intelligent cockpit applications and AI agents. Our first locally engineered vehicles are now on the road. The E5 from our new local Audi brand was voted China Car of the Year. This is the highest accolade in the Chinese automotive market. Customers are giving our new products a warm welcome. The sales of models such as the Volkswagen ID. ERA 9X, the ID. UNYX 07, or the AUDI E7X are growing steadily. We are tapping into new segments. We are reaching out to younger customers in particular. This shows that we are on the right track. As a traditional market leader for combustion engine vehicles, we are now gaining a foothold in the hard-fought and fast-growing segment of NEVs, so the new electric vehicles. We are in the game, but we still have plenty of work to do, because today we stand at the beginning of our largest product push in China. Up to the end of 2027, we plan to launch around 30 new models, all of them smart and fully connected, all electric, as plug-in hybrids or coming with range extenders, which are electric cars with an additional generator for an electric driving range of more than 1,000 kms. At the same time, we're also forging ahead with highly automated driving. We will be launching the first vehicles with more advanced driver assistance features, in other words, Level 2++, before the end of the year. At this level, the system takes over control of the vehicle while the driver remains on standby, ready to intervene. By 2027, we plan to be ready with the next level, Level 3. That is highly automated driving in specific use cases. Our joint venture between CARIAD and Horizon Robotics is developing the group's first self-designed System -on -Chip. That makes us faster, more flexible, more efficient, more cost-effective, and w hat's more important, even more independent. For us, China is more than just a market. For us, China is an innovation compass, a technology driver. With our partner, XPENG, we have now developed our own advanced Zonal Electrical and Electronic Architecture, all in record time, just 18 months from concept to series. Learning curves and experiences that we will then transfer to other world regions. At the same time, we have created new prospects with our Chinese models. In other words, export opportunities in the Global South and market segments that were previously not accessible due to the structure of our costs and our product offerings, such as Southeast Asia, Australia, India, the Middle East, Africa, or South America. The China Electronic Architecture is an important element in our new Global Software Strategy. In parallel, we have stabilized our software subsidiary, CARIAD, have completely restructured it and significantly streamlined it. As far as CARIAD is concerned, we were justifiably subject to severe criticism in the past in terms of functionality and deliverability, cost and quality. Meanwhile, our existing architectures compete at the highest level and are garnering positive feedback from customers, and also in comparison tests. CARIAD has become a modern, a professional tech company, particularly as regards cross-cutting technologies, not only driving systems, but also areas like cloud, data, and back-end units. The other main pillar of our software strategy is now taking shape in the U.S.A., the future electric or electronic architecture for the Western hemisphere. This is happening in our Rivian -Volkswagen Technology Joint Venture, where we are progressing as planned. All milestones so far have been achieved on target. Most recently, we concluded successfully our winter tests of the first products. From 2027, the new zonal architecture will start. The cost benefit of our forward-looking software architectures is about 80%. Currently, the tariffs are having a massive impact on our market situation in North America. The negative effect is of the order of some EUR 5 billion per year, with direct and indirect effects, that is particularly true for exports from Europe, and as products from Mexico that can no longer be exported economically due to the high tariff levels into the U.S. Be that as it may, we believe the United States is the region with the largest growth potential for the Volkswagen Group, that is why we are realigning in terms of our strategy of operations and of structures. We are focusing on the most profitable segments, the right vehicles for the market, it also includes efficient decision-making structures. As part of this strategy, we're proceeding with the construction of our factory in North Carolina as planned, with a revival of the iconic Scout brand. We are positioning ourselves in the largest and most profitable automotive segment in the U.S. We're also reviewing expanding partnerships and localizing Audi products in the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, for the Volkswagen Group, the future of mobility is clearly electric, and the battery is the core technology. We are the first European manufacturer to develop and produce battery cells on an industrial scale with our PowerCo subsidiary. In late 2025, we commissioned our first cell factory based in Salzgitter. We're currently ramping up production in Germany. This will be followed by our factories in Spain and Canada. Our focus is on our ability to compete with the best players in the market in technological and financial terms. We're taking another decisive step forward with the LFP cell made in Europe. LFP is the abbreviation for lithium iron phosphate, which is a technology known for its longevity, cost efficiency, and excellent fast-charging capabilities. Our ambition is to give our competitive position a further boost here, at the same time, we're preparing for the leap toward future battery generations like sodium and solid-state batteries. We are creating new opportunities for our battery activities over and above the automotive business, namely in growing industrial sectors and for energy storage systems. In the spring, our energy subsidiary, Elli, connected the group's first large-scale battery storage system to the power grid. This is the next logical step, it demonstrates that we are leveraging the technologies developed by Volkswagen comprehensively and profitably. Let us now turn our attention to the figures for 2025. We delivered around 9 million vehicles worldwide, which is close to the prior year level and the average of the past five years. This happens against the backdrop of today's significantly more competitive market environment. Our sales revenue came in at around EUR 322 billion, approximately the same level as the previous year. The Operating Result was some EUR 8.9 billion, with a margin of only 2.8%, both substantially lower than the previous year. This is chiefly due to high one-off special effects and U.S. tariffs. These totaled almost EUR 9 billion. Net cash flow in the Automotive Division rose to EUR 6.4 billion and that was noticeably higher than our target for 2025, thanks to the successful efforts of our teams, especially in the second half of the year, an increase of EUR 1.3 billion compared to 2024, despite the weaker operating performance. At around EUR 34.5 billion, our net liquidity remained at a solid level. These figures show our situation is tense and demanding, but they also show we're holding our own, particularly compared to the competition. What matters, therefore, is we are and we remain in a position to act, even in the midst of transforming and restructuring the Volkswagen Group. The capital markets also acknowledge this. Our preferred shares grew by around 16% in 2025. The European sector index fell by 4% over the same period. Including the dividend, this gave our shareholders an annual increase of 24%. We remain committed to our dividend policy for the last fiscal year. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board proposed a dividend of EUR 5.26 per preferred share for fiscal 2025, we are distributing more than 30% of our result. We have not, though, taken into account special effects in connection with the non-cash impairment of the goodwill allocated to the Porsche segment in the interest of our shareholders. Ladies and gentlemen, our costs remain the area where we have the greatest need for action. We have grown our performance programs to include future packages at our German sites for Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and our software subsidiary, CARIAD. We have agreed to cut the number of jobs in Germany by some 50,000 by 2030, and we are on track. At Volkswagen AG alone, including Sachsen and Osnabrück, we will have reduced the headcount by 19,000 by the end of the year. In total, over 28,000 binding agreements for departures by 2030 have already been concluded. We already cut factory costs at Volkswagen's German sites by more than 20% in 2025. We are now seeing the first measurable financial effects of our activities. Through collective bargaining agreements and downsizing measures alone, we have to date achieved sustainable cost-saving effects of around EUR 1 billion across the group. We're working on annual net savings of EUR 6 billion by 2030. These contributions then feed into our overarching performance programs. Over these programs, we are methodically addressing all cost categories across all the brands. With the help of these performance programs, we have been able to absorb a large share of the external headwinds running into double-digit billions. Another aspect, o ur programs also address the reduction of overcapacities in our production network. Our starting point was a global production capacity based on an annual 12 million vehicles plan prior to the COVID pandemic, and a planning founded on much more optimistic assumptions at the time. Today, we believe a figure in the order of 9 million is more realistic, and this is the average achieved over the past five years. Our goal is to adjust our capacity to this market-aligned level. In this context, we have already taken some 2 million units out of the production network in Europe and China in the last two years, which includes six vehicle factories, where operations have stopped. For Osnabrück, we're currently working on a solution. Measures have been initiated to cut a further 500,000 units in China, the next steps then in Europe and in Germany will be on a similar scale. Today, we must recognize that the conditions for the automotive industry have deteriorated even further in 2026 as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, shrinking market volumes, and increasingly fierce competition. Our rule is hard and fast. We are focusing on our core business. We're strengthening our brands with attractive new products. We're consistently cutting our costs even further. We're reducing our complexity, we're positioning our group and our brand groups even more efficiently. For the Volkswagen brand, this means consistently continuing along the successful path to increasing efficiency, at the same time, Volkswagen is now forging ahead with the largest model push in its history. There are numerous world premieres this year, including the ID. Polo, the ID. Polo GTI, the ID. Cross, or the ID.3 Neo, along with that, the new Atlas in North America. We also expect a strong product momentum at Audi in 2026. The new Q7, the new Q9, the new RS 5, and the Audi A2 e-tron that marks the brand's entry into the electric compact class. The year got off to a promising start in Europe and Germany with higher first-quarter sales. We have comprehensively repositioned Porsche in 2025 with regard to product and corporate strategy, with a focus on the core business, with the investment portfolio realignment, the expanded cost reduction program, including massive goodwill impairment. The necessary restructuring measures have been taken, the same is true for the Executive Board lineup. The measures we have initiated are now starting to show results. The operating return in the first months of this year showed positive momentum, and the capital markets are already reacting. We made a stable start to the year with our products in a heavily declining global market. In Europe, we're the clear market leader with increased deliveries in the first quarter. In China, our core Volkswagen brand stays in the lead, supported by the combustion engines business. However, the shrinking overall market is also impacting our sales with a 20% drop. In South America, we are the second in the market, the highest quarter-one deliveries since 2015. Double-digit growth rates in some segments in the past two years. In the U.S., a market share at a low level, affected by the tariff situation, but with unchanged high potential. As far as the group as a whole is concerned, when we're looking at the current fiscal year, we are on track. We expect an operating result above the prior level and the operating return on sales to come in at between 4% and 5.5%. We expect net cash flow in the Automotive Division to be between EUR 3 billion and EUR 6 billion. We expect net liquidity to be in the range of EUR 32 billion-EUR 34 billion. With that in mind, let me put this in context. Volkswagen Group's long-term average Operating Returns on Sales from 1990 to the present is around 4%. For 2026, this level is at the bottom of our target range, but w e also have cost programs in place to offset countervailing effects of a negative margin in excess of 5%. Without the headwinds impacting our business, our Operating Result would already be within the range of our long-term ambition today. In historical context, the significant improvement in efficiency of the past two years speaks for itself, but i n this day and age, that is nothing more than a sheer necessity. Offsets are not obvious in the Operating Result, and they do not help our company on the financial markets. This is about the real world, and we are facing the facts of the real world. Never before has the risk situation been so high, and it is still climbing, and that is why we must, and we will continue to improve. The situation is clear, w e are once again at the forefront of competition with our products, but we're not making enough money with them. Develop a world car in Germany, produce it in Europe, and sell it all over the world. This is a business model of ours that was so successful for decades, but it does not work in today's world. We have to refine it. We have to give it a broader global reach. We have to act more locally, and at the same time, expand synergies and scaling further. We already have fundamentally restructured our group and given it a new technological basis in our brands and our companies and in our regions with a clear strategy and a clear plan and consistent execution. At the Annual General Meeting in 2023, we made ambitious promises with our top 10 programs. Many thought these are overly ambitious, but today we see we have done what we set out to do, and we have met all our key goals. We reached some of them earlier than planned. We have implemented the largest model push in our history, with significantly improved products as regards design and quality and technology. We have stabilized our software and put it on a global strategic footing. We have forged ahead with the development and production of battery technologies. We have reorganized our strategy in the global regions, and we have backed everything with overarching performance enhancement programs to strengthen our brands financially. We have achieved this in a rapidly changing world. There are geopolitical crises that disrupt markets and supply chains, the new tariffs and new trade barriers that put businesses under pressure. Regulation is increasing, which are generating additional costs. Markets are changing fast or even collapsing completely, and at the same time, we are going through the most significant transformation in our industry, involving great effort and costs, flexible drivetrains, new technologies, softwares, batteries, and the new necessary restructuring efforts. In Europe, we see Chinese carmakers pushing ever more aggressively into the market with prices that are not economically sustainable. That puts pressure on our volume planning and our earnings quality, despite of so many convincing new products coming from our group. That is why the Group Board of Management has mapped out a plan for the future, which is based on our current progress, our present position, and the expected risk situation going forward. We want to support the continuous transformation of our company. All of that is clearly focused on strong products, compelling technologies, consistent work on our competitiveness. Our ambition for 2030 is to achieve an operating return on sales of 8%-10%, and a much stronger net cash flow, more than 60% of our Automotive Operating Result. Today, these KPIs have higher aspirations than was ever the case in the past. We have to offset further external margin pressures, and we cannot assume any longer that past sales and price levels will return to the markets. We definitely cannot assume that markets will return to growth. To put it plainly, we must cut our costs and become more profitable. In a business environment that has become more complex, this is how we make the funds available for forward-focused investments and for growth. Our plan for the future has eight levers. First, we reduce complexity, more focused products, fewer variants, higher volumes per model, and a greater focus on the customer expectations in the different regions. Second, we streamline our technology toolkit. We intensify our focus on fewer platforms and electronic architectures, all with a clear goal of reduced complexity and more speed and less expenditure. Third, we are consistently aligning our production network to market realities. We continue to reduce overcapacities, and we do this in a regional, intelligent, and economic way. Fourth, we are aiming for regional growth. We want to see more local responsibility, more decision-making powers in the region with a centrally managed framework. Fifth, we streamline our investment portfolio. We reduce complexity and create leaner structures. We generate greater focus and more speed, and we strengthen our balance sheet. Six, we increase our operational excellence. We've already pooled the central function of development, procurement, and sales, and quality at the CEO level. We increase the efficiency and the dynamic of our operational units through systematic programs and unlock additional potential in all cost types. Seventh, we strengthen our performance culture through fewer hierarchies and clearer responsibilities, and with incentive systems that consistently reward performance. Finally, eight, we improve our group governance with clear decision-making structures, leaner processes, and more responsibility at all levels. That makes us faster and more effective. Now, we're currently working on the details of the next steps in our plan for the future. Further important decisions will be taken jointly with the Supervisory Board in the summer. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to recap. In the past years, we have repositioned our group, given it a fundamentally new structure, and redeveloped our technology in a world that has radically changed with tangible financial effects for our business in the midst of the greatest transformation of our industry, which has involved significant effort and costs. The next few years will be critical. That is why we're taking resolute action, not with another project that has a beginning and an end, but with a continuous transformation process, w ith a goal to make our group even more robust, even more successful, and future-proof. A group that is able to resist external factors and potential major risks. The situation remains extremely challenging, still, it is up to us with our strong brands, with our products, with our clear strategy and a team that can deliver. Around 660,000 employees worldwide who develop, produce, and shape progress every day. My sincere thanks go to them all in my own name and also on behalf of the entire Group Board of Management. Great opportunities lie ahead of us. We are seizing them. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you very much, Mr. Blume. Ladies and gentlemen, at this point, I would like to say goodbye to those of you who follow the public broadcast of the AGM. I would like to thank you most cordially for your interest in Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. Our shareholders and their representatives will be able to use the shareholder portal to follow the rest of the Annual General Meeting. To log in, you will need your registration confirmation number and your password. You will find this information in the box on the right-hand side, and I would also like to say that the voting results will be available on the internet after the conclusion of this meeting.