FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Europe's largest carmaker, will start managing its 6.9 billion euro ($10.9 billion) property portfolio centrally next month and may sell some of it, the company said on Thursday.

"Previously, Volkswagen subsidiaries managed their respective property. Now they will first be grouped together to achieve greater transparency and then we will see further what we will do with them," a spokeswoman said.

She acknowledged that one of the options it would look into would be divestments.

VW named the chief of Volkswagen Immobilien, Roland Stoeckigt, 47, as head of the group's Central Real Estate Management business that will be responsible for strategically controlling group property.

The main goal is to optimise renting, letting and leasing property as well as coordinate construction plans, it said.

Apart from its own commercial property, Volkswagen owns and operates some 10,411 private flats with residential space of 687,511 square meters used, for example, by VW workers.

Many German companies hold real estate on their balance sheets at decades-old property valuations and could realise significant book gains through sale-and-leaseback agreements at current market prices.

Germany's real estate investment trust (REIT) legislation, which took effect last year, offers corporate sellers of real estate a tax incentive if they strike such deals with a buyer registered as a REIT.

On average, German companies have far more real estate assets on their balance sheets than U.S. or British peers. According to some estimates, Germany's top companies could bring as much as 80 billion euros worth of real estate onto the market in the next few years.