VW April sales rise 11% as China, U.S. demand grows

Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, said global sales increased 11 percent in April, helped by growing demand in China and the U.S.

Deliveries at Volkswagen's seven car brands and commercial- vehicles division rose to 604,000 units from 542,000 a year earlier, Michael Brendel, a spokesman at the Wolfsburg, Germany- based manufacturer, said today by telephone.

VW is targeting a second consecutive year of record sales as it adds 60 models, including upgrades, in 2010 alone. The carmaker said last month it will spend another 1.6 billion euros ($2 billion) on models and two new factories in China, raising total investments in the world's biggest auto market to 6 billion euros.

"Overseas growth is offsetting a weakening European market where government incentives are expiring," said Christian Aust, an analyst at UniCredit SpA in Munich. "The positive trend established over the past months is continuing."

Four-month sales in China, Volkswagen's biggest single market, surged 53 percent to 620,500 cars and SUVs while U.S. deliveries increased 38 percent to 112,600 units. Western European sales rose 12 percent to 1.01 million vehicles.

Business for Volkswagen may become "more difficult" in the second half of 2010 as trade-in incentives expire in some European countries and local taxes are implemented, sales chief Christian Klingler said on April 29 when the carmaker released first-quarter results.

"Despite the very positive performance we've seen to date, we remain cautious on the outlook for the year," Klingler said in today's statement. "It is still very difficult to predict macroeconomic developments."