Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

VW sells more than 1 million vehicles in China in 2008

By Li Fangfang (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-10 16:53

German carmaker Volkswagen AG posted its 2008 China sales on Friday, becoming the first automaker to break the 1 million units of passenger car sales barrier in the world's second biggest auto market.

The company sold 1.02 million vehicles in 2008, up 12.5 percent over the previous year. This compared to a 28 percent jump in 2007 with 910,491 units sold in China.

Related readings:  GM sees slow sales growth in mainland  GM China sales growth slumps to 6% in 2008  China to boost car sales by scrap incentives  Limited impact from WTO car parts ruling

Sales for Volkswagen brand increased 8.2 percent to 844,491 units while Audi brand grew 17 percent to 101,996 units and Skoda brand more than doubled the sales to 59,284 units.

It also sold 518 units of its premier luxury Bently sedans and 117 Lamborghini super sport cars.

Volkswagen's two joint ventures in China, FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen beat Shanghai GM to top the sales rankings in 2008, selling 512,973, 501,018 and 445,709 units respectively.

Lacking of competitive new models, the General Motors' joint venture with China's biggest carmaker SAIC sold 445,709 vehicles in 2008, down 7 percent from 2007. The venture lost its crown of China sales champion which it maintained for three years.

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

The association also said the passenger car output for the whole year of 2008 increased 5.1 percent to 6.63 million units over 2007.