VW reports strong global car sales in July

FRANKFURT: The biggest European automaker, Volkswagen, said Friday that it sold 665,600 vehicles worldwide in July, an annualised gain of 16.3 percent to which all regions contributed.

In the seven months from January through July, VW, which aims to become the world's biggest car maker by 2018, delivered 4.75 million cars and trucks, an increase of 14.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, a statement said.

"The sales teams for all brands have grown deliveries all over the world," sales director Christian Klingler was quoted as saying.

In China, VW's biggest single market, seven-month sales were 16.4 percent higher at 1.29 million vehicles, while India posted a leap of 194.5 percent to 21,300 deliveries.

Sale growth was also particularly strong in central and eastern Europe, with a rise of 28.7 percent, and in North America, which gained 20.5 percent.

A seven-month breakdown by brands showed VW car sales up by 12.5 percent at 2.95 million vehicles, followed by its high-end Audi brand, which posted a gain of 17.4 percent to 758,900 cars.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011