Berlin/Beijing  - Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen AG said Tuesday that sales in China raced ahead by 23 per cent during the first six months of the year.

With deliveries rising to 532,000 during the first half of the year, VW chief in China Winfried Vahland said the group was now confident that it would reach its full-year sales target of more than 1 million cars.

At the same time, German-based VW's luxury offshoot, Audi AG, said that strong demand from China and Eastern Europe resulted in June sales rising by 1.3 per cent to about 90,000.

On a six-month basis, Audi sales increased by 1.4 per cent to a record of more than 516,000 cars.

The increase during the first six months of the year will also help Audi to reach its sales target of more than 1 million vehicles this year from 964,151 in 2007.

While Audi's sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose by 17 per cent last month, deliveries in China bounded ahead by 20 per cent and by 23 per cent in Eastern European. (dpa)