VW brand March, Q1 sales hit record on China, U.S. demand

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen’s core brand increased sales to a record 584,700 vehicles in March, expanding the first-quarter tally to 1.53 million cars, the highest-ever level for the January-to-March period.

VW brand vehicle sales rose 4.9 percent last month compared with March 2017, powered by gains in all major markets including China and the United States except Germany where deliveries eased 0.8 percent, it said on Monday.

Quarterly deliveries at VW’s biggest division by sales and revenue were up 5.9 percent, helped by a double-digit gain in the U.S. and an 8.6 percent expansion in China, the carmaker’s largest market.