Shanghai VW's May sales top 88000

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai June 8) - Shanghai Volkswagen sold 88,008 vehicles this past month, auto.163.com reported today. The figure comes from the joint venture's official statistics, which showed Shanghai VW's sales volume increasing 18.1 percent from last year, a stark contrast with domestic Chinese manufacturers' performances in May.

Among its subsidiary brands, 70,839 VWs were sold, while the remaining 17,169 vehicles carried the Skoda label. Sales of the Chinese-only VW Lavida compact (pictured) were highest at 21,814, followed by the Skoda Octavia, Tiguan crossover and Passat, with 9,699, 9,499 and 9,238 units sold, respectively.

Although it is reported to have six factories, Shanghai VW has had difficulty maintaining full production, with autopart supply problems limiting manufacturing capability at its Nanjing production site. The joint venture hopes to remedy this problem, having investing 1.3 billion euros ($1.903b) to expand the site.