Automaker Volkswagen AG said Wednesday that improved sales helped lift its first-quarter net profit by more than 25 percent and predicted that demand for its cars would increase substantially in Asia, Europe and South America. The Wolfsburg-based company, Europe's biggest car maker by sales, said it earned ¤929 million (US$1.5 billion) in the January-March period, compared with ¤740 million the year before. Sales rose 1.4 percent to ¤27 billion (US$43.01 billion) from last year's figure of ¤26.6 billion. The number of cars sold rose by 6.9 percent worldwide to 1.6 million from 1.5 million. The preliminary report was released a day before the company holds its annual general meeting. The company said its plans to offer several new models this year would push up sales. «For this reason, we are assuming that deliveries to Volkswagen Group customers in 2008 will exceed the record levels achieved in the previous year,» the company said in a statement, according to a report of the Associated Press. «We expect demand for ... vehicles to increase substantially, especially in the Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, and South America regions.» Last year, Volkswagen sold 6.2 million cars, helping push up sales almost 4 percent to ¤108.9 billion (US$173.5 billion). Volkswagen's brands include VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat and premium brands Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. Shares of Volkswagen were down 1.4 percent at ¤188.47 (US$300.25) in Frankfurt trading.
