By Laura Benitez
LONDON, March 22 (IFR) - Volkswagen said it plans to return to the US dollar bond market this year, the company's head of group treasury said on an investor call on Wednesday.
The call with bond investors, which began at 10:00am, was held as the company seeks to return to the euro bond market on Thursday.
This will be the first test of investor appetite for a new issue from Volkswagen since it was rocked by an emissions scandal in September 2015.
A multi-tranche benchmark, two-year floater, four-year fixed, 6.5-year fixed and 10-year fixed transaction is expected.
The senior unsecured transaction will be issued on the basis of a standalone prospectus, subject to market conditions.
The automaker may also return to the European hybrid bond market in the second half of the year, added Joerg Boche, VW's head of treasury. nL5N1GZ20X
Volkswagen International Finance, guaranteed by Volkswagen AG, is rated A3 (negative) by Moody's and BBB+ (negative) by S&P.
The German car maker has mandated Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Mizuho Securities, SG CIB and UniCredit to arrange the investor calls.
(Reporting By Laura Benitez; editing by Sudip Roy)