Volkswagen sold 538,500 cars worldwide in January, a 41 per cent increase over the same month a year ago, dpa quoted Europe's biggest carmaker as saying today. Sales in Germany were up by a third and increases were also registered in other Western European countries, China and the United States, a company spokesman said. In Russia, sales plummeted 22 per cent to 5,100 vehicles. Distribution chief Christian Klinger said Volkswagen faced a challenging year, despite the good start. The situation on the global market remained tense, he said. Car producers, who were badly hit by the global economic downturn, expect to see growth in the Chinese and US markets this year, but not in Germany or Western Europe where economic incentives such as car scrappage schemes have run out. Volkswagen sold a record 6.29 million vehicles last year. It hopes to replace Toyota as the world's biggest carmaker by 2018. It is currently in third place behind the Japanese manfacturer and the US carmaker General Motors.
