Berlin  - A banking unit of Volkswagen AG that helps buyers to finance cars said Tuesday it was seeking assistance from the German government's bail-out scheme for banks.

Financial Services AG and Volkswagen Bank have requested an undisclosed amount in credit guarantees from Sofin, a federal government agency with a 480-billion-euro
(618-billion-dollar) war chest.

The credit crunch has made it more difficult for banks to obtain funding on capital markets.

The government fund was set up in October to stabilize the banking industry by providing credit guarantees and capital injections.

Financial Services AG has been a major contributor to the profits of Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker.

In the first 8 months of this year it had a turnover of 8.2 billion euros and an operating result of 744 million euros, marginally lower than the 747 million euros for the year before.

Germany's car industry has been hit hard by the global financial crisis, which has plunged the country into recession and led to a rapid decline in sales. (dpa)