Volkswagen China sales exceed 1 mln in 2008

Volkswagen AG, the German-based world leading automaker, announced that its vehicle sales in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau hit 1.02 million in 2008, up 12.5% compared with 910,491 units sold a year earlier, sources reported.

Vehicles sales under the Volkswagen brand increased 8.2% to 844,491 units, including 12,649 imported vehicles. Sales of Audi reached 119,598 units, up 17.3% year on year, while Skoda's sales more than doubled to 59,284 units. Sales of its premier luxury Bently sedans and Lamborghini super sport cars were 518 units and 117 units respectively.

FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen, the two joint ventures of Volkswagen in China, surpass its competitor Shanghai GM to top the sales ranking in 2008 with 512,973, 501,018 and 445,709 vehicles sold respectively.

The total sales for passenger vehicles in China rose 7.4% to 6.43 million units last year, according to statistics released by China Passenger Car Association.