Volkswagen excels in 'second home' of China

Volkswagen has revealed strong sales figures, helped by extremely strong demand for its products in China.

Volkswagen cars are lifted inside a delivery tower of the company in Wolfsburg, Germany, March 14, 2017. [Photo: AP]

Over half of all of Volkswagen's sales in January 2018 were in China, where the market has become so important to the German auto company that Executive Jurgen Stackmann commented, “I am... impressed by our good start in our second home market of China."

The growth in China is an impressive 9.7 percent, when sales for the month are compared to the same period last year.

The news comes after we recently reported that, within the next decade, there'll be an investment of some $12 billion in electric Volkswagens in China.

That figure comprises investment from both the German firm and its local Chinese partners.

As we revealed in a previous feature, alongside its leading position globally, VW is also the largest foreign manufacturer in China.

Over a third of VW's foreign sales currently come from China, and now the firm plans to further cement this position by rapidly transforming its product range.

By 2020, VW aims to sell predominantly electric or hybrid vehicles in China, through partnerships with local firms as well as ride-hailing pioneer Didi.