China becomes biggest market of VW in H1

Volkswagen AG of Germany sold 3.1003 million vehicles around the globe in the first half of 2009, including 652,200 in China and 631,900 in Germany.

The figures reflect that China has taken the place of Germany for the first time as the biggest auto market of Volkswagen worldwide, after the global auto giant marched into China about 25 years ago.

Notably, its sales stepped down 5% year on year throughout the world but went up 18.6% in Asia Pacific. In particular, its sales jumped 22.7% from a year earlier in China, the biggest auto market worldwide, and accounted for over one-fifth of its global total.

In addition, its two China-based joint ventures, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. (FAW-VW) and Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. (SVW), gained a sales volume of separately 318,700 and 317,400 in the first six months of this year. They ranked first and second by sales among all of the country's passenger car manufacturers.