An employee cleans a Buick in the showroom of a GM dealership in Beijing, China. (Alexander F. Yuan / Associated Press)
Automakers still successful in China
Sales reports from major automakers, including General Motors and Toyota, suggest 2010 is shaping up to be another boom year for car sales in China, the world's biggest vehicle market. GM sold 219,192 vehicles in China in January, up 97 percent from a year earlier and a record for the month. Sales for 2009 by GM and its local partners rose to a record 1.8 million vehicles amid tax cuts and incentives to help boost the industry. Toyota also saw sales climb in January, by 53 percent to 72,000 units.
--Associated Press
A parking lot at the Volkswagen company in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. (Axel Heimken / Associated Press)
VW aims to vie for top world automaker
German carmaker Volkswagen says it hopes to sell eight million cars yearly in the medium-term and more than 10 million annually by 2018. In 2008, the company sold 6.3 million cars. Toyota led world-wide sales that year with 8.97 million, while General Motors sold 8.35 million. Volkswagen is Europe's largest automotive group by sales with brands including Audi, Seat and Skoda. It is also a major shareholder of two of Europe's largest truckmakers, MAN SE of Germany and Scania AB of Sweden.
--Associated Press
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