Volkswagen (VW) has announced the first four months of the year have proven to be a record period for the manufacturer's passenger vehicles segment.

From January to the end of April, Volkswagen sold almost two million passenger cars across the globe (1.99 million units) and witnessed an annual upturn in registrations of 4.6 per cent in comparison to the same period last year.

April was shown to be a particularly strong month for the manufacturer, with a 6.8 per cent annual increase in sales to 513,400 vehicles.

Overall, the first four months of 2014 have proven highly lucrative for the company, with the European market continuing to show positive signs of recovery after several years of subdued sales.

A 4.1 per cent upturn in registrations was recorded among European buyers to 567,800 units – of which, more than half (279,300) were purchased in western European countries (excluding Germany).

In the manufacturer's home nation, January to April saw sales of 184,100 units (up two per cent year-on-year), while both eastern and central European sales diminished slightly at minus 0.2 and minus 7.4 per cent respectively.

Elsewhere, the Asia-Pacific region helped to offset these losses and witnessed a growth in sales of 16.2 per cent in the four months to the end of April, while the Chinese market in particular saw healthy growth (up 17.5 per cent to 921,400 vehicles).

Finally, the North and South American regions delivered less positive results for the first third of the year and saw VW sales dip annually by 10.4 and 21.8 per cent to 118,200 and 183,900 vehicles sold respectively.

Christian Klingler, board member for sales and marketing for the VW Group and the VW Passenger Cars brand, responded to the update: "On the one hand, [overall growth] is due to good sales developments in China and Europe, and on the other it is attributable to sustained high demand for products such as the Golf, now in the seventh generation of its 40-year history, where the success story continues.

"However, the global market is still a mixed bag and therefore remains challenging."

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