BERLIN (AP) -- Europe's largest automaker Volkswagen AG says it has set a first-half sales record of more than 2.5 million cars, helped by strong increases in China.
Volkswagen said Tuesday that its passenger cars unit sold 2.53 million vehicles in the January-to-June period, up 12 percent over the first half of 2010.
It also posted a month-over-month increase of 10 percent for June to 438,500 vehicles.
Strong sales in booming China, the Wolfsburg-based company's largest single market, accounted for a large share of the increase. Sales there rose 13 percent to 852,800 vehicles in the first half.
The strongest regional growth came in Central and Eastern Europe, which saw 42 percent growth to 92,300 vehicles -- helped by growth of 103 percent in Russia.
