Record 9-month sales!

VW posts record nine-month sales of 4.61 million vehicles

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Volkswagen, the biggest European automaker, sold a record 4.61 million vehicles worldwide in the first nine months of 2007, an annualized 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.

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