The Volkswagen Group is defying the economic crisis and gearing up to set a new sales milestone this year. For the first time in its history, the German maker sold 6.11 million vehicles in the first nine months of the year, representing a 13.9 percent increase over the same period in 2010. "We are very pleased with the development of the Group. Delivering six million vehicles in nine months represents a key milestone on the way to reaching our annual target of eight million vehicles sold in 2011," said Group Board member for Sales Christian Klingler.

"We are also expecting very good delivery figures for the fourth quarter. We continue to keep a close eye on developments in global automobile markets, some of which are highly volatile," Klingler added. The VW Group also enjoyed sales increase in all regions between January to September 2011. The breakdown is as follows:

Asia Pacific: +17.3% to 1.92 million units

North America: +21.4% to 485,400 units

South America: +9.5% to 700,900 units

Europe: + 10.8% to 2.77 million units

In its home market of Germany, the VW Group's deliveries grew by 12.3 percent to 864,400 units. Breaking down by brands in the VW Group:

Volkswagen: +12.3% to 3.81 million units

Audi: +17.4% to 973,200 units

Skoda: +16.8% to 664,800 units

Seat: +3.1% to 266,800 units

VW Commercial: +25.5% to 389,900 units