Volkswagen, the biggest European automaker, sold a record 4.61 million vehicles worldwide in the first nine months of 2007, an annualised increase of 8.2 percent, it said Thursday.
VW cited “substantial growth in South America, (the) Asian-Pacific region and Central and Eastern Europe” as main contributors to the results.
“In the Asian-Pacific region, the Volkswagen group delivered 790,000 vehicles, 25.9 percent more than in the first nine months of last year,” a statement said.
“Of these, 685,000 cars were sold in China alone, 30.2 percent more than in the previous year.”
On Monday, chief executive Martin Winterkorn said the group was closing in on a full-year sales record of more than 3.5 million vehicles.
Volkswagen brand vehicles were the biggest sellers in the January-September period, with 2.73 million delivered to customers worldwide.
At the other end of the scale, the Bugatti unit “more than doubled its volume” with sales of 59 luxury cars.
Audi, another top-shelf brand owned by VW, sold 741,000 models in the first nine months of the year, while Bentley and Lamborghini contributed sales of 7,800 and 1,800 respectively.
Volkswagen commercial vehicles posted growth of 11.4 percent with 356,000 sales.
That division was in focus elsewhere Thursday, with a Stockholm newspaper reporting that Swedish truckmaker Scania was preparing an offer for German rival MAN that could at some point include VW vehicles as well.
VW is the biggest shareholder in both groups, and analysts believe it might add its Brazilian truck activities to a three-way tie-up that would create a European giant bigger than Volvo-Renault Trucks.
Meanwhile however, Volkswagen reported much weaker growth in its main Western European market, with nine-month sales just 0.6 percent higher at 2.35 million vehiles.
Domestic German sales fell by 3.7 percent, while US business was off by 0.3 percent.
