Volkswagen said in a statement that it sold 524,558 cars in China in the first three quarters, jumping 28.7 percent from a year ago.

The strong sales meant the German carmaker to take a 17.5 percent share of China's passenger car market, slightly more than last year, it said.

"We can state already today that we will achieve all three targets of our Olympic Restructuring Program for this year (in China)," said Winfried Vahland, executive vice-president of Volkswagen Group and president of Volkswagen Group China. The three targets are a stabilized market share, better sales than in 2005 and positive financial results, said Vahland.

Ford yesterday said combined sales of its wholly-owned brands Ford, Lincoln, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover rocketed by 105.5 percent year-on-year to 114,685 units from January to September this year.

Cheng Meiwei, vice-president of Ford and chairman of Ford Motor China, said: "Ford Motor Company is poised for an exciting full-year performance in 2006 in China and is ready to continue its rapid growth in 2007."

Other major global carmakers, such as General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and PSA Peugeot Citroen, have not yet revealed their China sales figures for the first nine months of this year.

Volkswagen said China sales of the Volkswagen brand division, including its Czech arm Skoda, grew by a quarter to 464,589 units in the period.

Meanwhile, its luxury brand Audi sold 59,883 cars in China, up from 36,086 units in the first three quarters of 2005.

Volkswagen now runs two joint ventures in China with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) and First Automotive Works Corp (FAW) the nation's top two vehicle manufacturers.

The venture with SAIC makes Volkswagen Santana, Passat, Polo, Gol and Touran cars, and will start to produce Skoda cars next year.

FAW Volkswagen's current lineup includes the Jetta, Golf, Sagitar, Bora and Caddy as well as the Audi A6 and A4.

Ford said China sales under the Ford brand, for passenger cars and commercial vehicles locally produced and imported, surged by 111 percent to 106,237 units in the first three quarters of this year.

The Detroit-based automaker also has two joint ventures with Chang'an Motor Corp China's No 4 vehicle producer and Jiangling Motor Corp, a smaller company.

Chang'an Ford is producing the Mondeo, Focus and Fiesta models and the Volvo S40. The venture with Jiangling is makes the Transit commercial vehicle.

Ford is also building a new car plant in East China with its Japanese affiliate, Mazda Motor, and Chang'an. The new plant will start assembling Ford and Mazda vehicles next year.

(China Daily October 11, 2006)