VW sales in China up 39% in first 9 months

German automaker Volkswagen Group reported a 39% year-on-year sales hike in the first three quarters this year in China, outperforming what it achieved for the full of last year. The group, which has been the top passenger vehicle producer in China for more than two decades, moved almost 1.48 million cars in the first nine months of this year, compared with 1.4 million units in all of 2009. “The great success shows again that Volkswagen and its Chinese partners have tapped into market trends. Like European customers, Chinese consumers want to buy newly designed and environmentally friendly models,” said Karl-Thomas Neumann, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China. Sales of the Volkswagen brand rose by 33.8% from a year ago to 1.17 million units in the first three quarters of this year, the group said. (October 18, 2010)