Volkswagen sales hits record in 2013

German auto giant Volkswagen global sales hit record high in 2013, due to increasing demands from Asia-Pacific regions, especially from China, the company said on Saturday. From January to December 2013, Volkswagen delivered more than 9.7 million vehicles around the world. The sales grew by about 5 percent from 2012, when 9.3 million vehicles were delivered, the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer said in a statement. "All brands contributed to these very positive results which are a very good achievement in light of the difficult conditions on markets all over the world," said Christian Klingler, Board Member for Sales of Volkswagen. Most of the growth was contributed by Asia-Pacific market, where 3.64 million vehicles were sold in 2013, 14.7 percent higher than in previous year. Among the total sales in the region, 3.27 million were handed over to customers in China, Volkswagen's largest single market. The sales rose by 16.2 percent year-on-year. Deliveries in the North America also grew by 5.6 percent to 888,800 units. In the United States, sales was up by 2.6 percent to 611,700 vehicles. In its home market of Europe, however, Volkswagen's delivery declined by 0.5 percent to 3.65 million vehicles in 2013. "As far as the current year is concerned, we expect market developments on a level similar to 2013. Even though the situation in Europe would appear to be stabilizing, economic uncertainty will continue and the challenges we will be facing on markets will remain virtually unchanged," said Klingler. German auto industry association VDA forecasted in a December report that global auto sales in 2014 would increase by 3 percent to 74.7 million units, among which nearly 23 percent would be contributed by China market, while over 21 percent by the U.S. "The German manufacturers could go along with the high rate of growth in China," said Matthias Wissmann, president of the association.