Volkswagen SUVs drive out the door in record numbers

Volkswagen Group China announced they sold more than one million vehicles on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in the first quarter of this year, up 13.4 percent year on year.

"The result is a record for first-quarter deliveries and represents an excellent start to the year," said Jochem Heizmann, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group China. 

"March was particularly strong, with Volkswagen brand, Audi, Skoda and Porsche each registering record deliveries for this month."

Volkswagen said its increasing sales are led by the sales of sport-utility vehicles. In the first quarter, Volkswagen delivered a total of 102,000 sport-utility vehicles, up 33.8 percent year on year.

The company also mentioned that it will focus on their sport-utility vehicle product line in order to further boost sales this year, with plans to launch four new SUV models in China in the second half of the year.

“We will further accelerate our SUV offensive this year," Heizmann added.

In terms of brand, Volkswagen passenger cars remained the top choice for Chinese car buyers. A total of 755,700 Volkswagen branded vehicles were sold in the first quarter, up 8.6 percent year on year.

Audi also had good performance in the first quarter, with sales volume jumping 41.9 percent to 154,300 units, led by the sales of the brand's A4 sedan. Around 37,400 Chinese consumers purchased Audi A4 vehicles since the beginning of the year, up 99.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Skoda also achieved relatively strong growth, delivering a total of 79,200 vehicles in the first three months, an increase of 18.6 percent over the same quarter last year.

Porsche deliveries remained stable, with more than 18,600 vehicles sold on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in the first quarter, up 3 percent year on year.