In May, Volkswagen Sales Rise by 8.6 Percent

Volkswagen AG recently announced that its sales rose by 8.6 percent in May, bolstered by rapidly growing demand in the United States and China.

At Volkswagen’s commercial-vehicle unit and seven car brands, deliveries rose from 556,500 one year ago to 604,200 this year, the automaker reported. In the previous five months, VW sales have risen by 18 percent to 2.94 million.

“Volkswagen is currently reaping greater than average benefits from very good demand in important markets such as China and the U.S.,” said Volkswagen sales chief Christian Klingler in a statement.

Volkswagen is shooting for a second straight year of record sales with its plans to add 60 models this year, including upgrades. The automaker will construct its tenth factory in China to move closer to its goal of doubling production capacity in its largest market to three million vehicles in the next four years, VW announced on Wednesday.

Rivalry with Toyota

China, where VW will invest six billion euros ($7.3 billion), is skeptical of the goal of the automaker’s CEO to surpass Toyota as the largest car manufacturer in the world in profitability and sales by the year 2018.

Sales of Volkswagen vehicles in the biggest car market in the world skyrocketed 48 percent in the first five months of 2010 to 777,800 vehicles.

“Volkswagen sales keep growing across major markets though the pace of gains is slowing as sales incentives expire,” explained Christian Aust, a UniCreditSpA analyst, before the numbers were posted.

In the past five-months, Volkswagen’s U.S. deliveries rose 34 percent to 145,500 units, while sales in Europe increased 6.5 percent to 1.42 million vehicles, according to VW’s statement. The company’s German deliveries dropped 12 percent to 436,900. The end of a scrappage incentive program has depressed sales in Germany.

Last month, Volkswagen agreed to purchase a 90.1 percent share of Italdesign-Giugiaro SpA to grow its auto-design team as it expands its model range.

The automaker aims for yearly sales of over ten million units by 2018.