Sales of Volkswagen vehicles rose 23 percent to a record 202,600 units in China in the first quarter this year, said sources with Volkswagen China on Friday.

It was the first time that quarterly sales of Volkswagen vehicles exceeded 200,000 units in the country.

Vehicles with the Volkswagen brand grew 22.5 percent to 178,000 units in the first three months, 1,483 of which were imported.

The Audi, Volkswagen's luxury brand, saw sales soar 27 percent to 24,300 units, including 1,749 that were imported.

Winfried Vahland, chief executive officer of Volkswagen China, said Volkswagen would launch a number of new models on the Chinese market this year to ensure a stable growth in sales and profits.

China was Volkswagen's fastest growing market last year with annual sales soaring 24.3 percent to 711,000 units.

The German automaker became the first multinational firm to manufacture in China in 1985 when Shanghai Volkswagen was established as China's first joint venture automaker.

The Shanghai-based company had the second best sales record with 352,000 units sold last year. The Jilin-based FAW Volkswagen sold 350,000 vehicles last year giving it third place in overall sales of passenger cars in China.

Shanghai-GM led all carmakers with sales of 400,000 vehicles.

Source: Xinhua