Volkswagen Group China sets new sales record in the first nine months of 2010

• Almost 1.5 million vehicles sold
• Outperforms record sales from last year

It also means that Volkswagen Group China - with its main brands VW, Audi and Skoda - has already outperformed its own record sales of last year (1.4 million vehicles) within the first nine months of this year.

"China welcomes me with a great performance", said Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, who took over as China head at the beginning of September. "The great success shows again that Volkswagen and its Chinese partners have recognized exactly the trend of the booming market. Like the European customers, Chinese consumers want to buy models with the newest design and the best environmentally friendly technology."

Over the last few years Volkswagen Group has brought more fuel efficient technologies to China. That strategy is now paying off. Models with these innovations - like the Volkswagen Lavida or the New Bora - are in high demand. Since January, 179,700 Volkswagen Lavida were sold in China (plus 63.4 percent).

"We will continue to introduce innovative and affordable models to the Chinese market", said Neumann. He pointed out that Volkswagen Group China will also set new standards for E-Mobility in the near future. With the first E-Fleet in China Volkswagen will make an important contribution to sustainability and eco-friendliness in the local automotive industry.

"The outstanding sales performance proves that it was the right decision to invest more and substantially in the Chinese market", said Neumann. "Our investments of about 6 billion Euros in new plants and new models from this year until the end of 2012 are not only reflecting a huge increase of our capacity, this commitment is also showing our support for China's green future."

Volkswagen China Group announced today that it has delivered 1,476,200 cars from January to September to customers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau (Jan-Sept 2009: 1,062,000). Bentley sold 653 units and Lamborghini sold 179 units during that time, an increase of 96.6 percent and 113.0 percent respectively.

Sales volume of the Volkswagen brand amounted to 1,166,000 units, an increase of 33.8 percent, including 33,000 imported vehicles. This positive trend will be continued by the New Touareg, which will come to China shortly. The spectacular launch of the new Phaeton in the Forbidden City last month got a lot of attention in the Chinese media. With more than 2,227 deliveries in Mainland China in the first nine months, China is now the fastest growing market for the handcrafted flagship of Volkswagen.

Audi delivered 174,900 units, up 60.7 percent, including 25,800 imported units. In September, Audi - with the locally produced Q5 - set a new sales record of more than 22,100 units in a single month. For the first time more than 4000 units of the Q5 were sold in a single month.

Skoda has again increased its market share on the Chinese car market. With a sales increase of 64.7 percent compared with the same period 2009, Skoda has - already by the end of September - reached a new sales record in China of 134,500 sold cars. The month of September with 19,200 sold cars showed also an all time record. Next to the Fabia and the Octavia, the last year introduced Skoda Superb is also very successful - more than 28,500 deliveries to customers during this year is a convincing statement of consumers' trust in the brand Skoda.