Sales of the VW Lavida, New Bora, Audi Q5 and Skoda Fabia were especially strong, the company noted in its statement.

Spurred by strong sales in China and the U.S., VW's global group sales rose 16% in the first six months to 3.6 million units.

Deliveries advanced at all volume brands including the Audi luxury division and Czech unit Skoda, rising to 644,600 cars and sport-utility vehicles from 609,900 a year earlier, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said in an e-mailed statement.

"We expect to perform better than the overall market this year,"sales chief Christian Klingler said in the statement.

"Our innovative and environmentally friendly model range is being well received by customers."

Volkswagen is targeting a second consecutive year of record deliveries as it adds about 70 models, including upgrades, in 2010. 

To maintain growth, VW is pouring investment into China, its largest market. On July 15, the carmaker said it would build its 11th plant in

China as part of its plan to double production capacity to 3 million vehicles within four years.

VW plans to invest 6 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in China. That market is critical to Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn's goal of surpassing Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest carmaker, in sales and profitability by 2018.