VW reiterates China sales target after July downturn

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, the biggest overseas carmaker in China, reiterated it expects to sell 1 million vehicles in the country this year, even after growth slowed last month.

"In short term, there will be turbulence, but I am optimistic about the mid and long-term,'' Winfried Vahland, Volkswagen's China head, said in an Aug. 9 interview in Beijing. The carmaker aims to boost sales in the country as much as 20 percent this year.

Industrywide car sales rose 6.8 percent last month, the slowest pace in two years, as higher fuel prices damped demand and people delayed purchases ahead of this month's Beijing Olympics. Volkswagen is sponsoring the games to bolster its profile in China, the biggest market for the Volkswagen brand worldwide.

"We want to win the gold medal in China,'' Vahland said. That "means being the market leader, selling up to 1 million cars and being more profitable than last year.''

The German automaker donated a total 6,000 vehicles to the organizers of the Olympics and the torch relay. The vehicles are transporting officials and athletes during the games, which started on Aug. 8.

Volkswagen will have invested a total of 7 billion euros ($10 billion) in China by end of this year, according to Vahland. The company sold a total of 531,612 vehicles in the country in the first half, 23 percent more than a year earlier. Overall passenger-car sales rose 17 percent in the period.