Volkswagen November Sales, Up 19 Percent

As with both its German siblings, BMW and Daimler, Volkswagen posted increasing sales for the month of November, with the figures showing a 19.1 percent improvement over the same period of 2008. In all, the VW group sold 531,300 vehicles, bringing the total number of vehicle sold since the beginning of the year to 5.85 million.

"We have exceeded our expectations so far this year. That shows our Group brands are on the right track with our environmentally-friendly model range tailored to the specific needs of the markets," Detlef Wittig, Volkswagen sales and marketing vice president said.

Stripped to its component parts, all of the group's brands posted positive results. The best performer was Czech carmaker Skoda, which managed to post a 26 percent increase to 55,500 units. The Spanish Seat are on a rebound, with the numbers showing an encouraging 8 percent increase in deliveries, to 27,900 vehicles.

Audi contributed too, as it consolidated its position with a 8.9 percent increase, sales figures reaching 82,760 vehicles. As for the main brand, Volkswagen passenger cars, it too is on an upward trend, posting a 25.8 percent rise in deliveries to 334,500 vehicles. As was the case with all the other brands and manufacturers' listed above, China was at the forefront of the sales surge, registering a 63.1 percent rise to 105,900 units.

"The coming year will be extremely difficult. Very different developments are expected on markets around the world. While the upward trend in China is anticipated to continue, we expect a marked decline on the European market in particular. So we cannot give the all-clear yet," Wittig added.