Sales of Volkswagen Group's brands in China rose nearly 14 percent year on year to 373,800 vehicles in November despite lukewarm demand for its Audi luxury models.
Skoda, VW's value brand, reported a 12 percent increase in deliveries last month to 30,000 vehicles, while Volkswagen brand sales rose 15 percent to 285,000. But Audi deliveries increased only 6.6 percent to 52,776 vehicles, as it continued to lose market share to BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
China sales totals for VW's other brands were unavailable.
Volkswagen Group outperformed rival General Motors, whose deliveries climbed 7 percent to 371,740 vehicles. But the German automaker lost market share anyway, as industry light-vehicle sales for the period rose 20 percent.
For the first 11 months, VW Group sales in China rose nearly 12 percent to 3.59 million vehicles.
VW is taking steps to speed growth. The company may allow its dealerships affiliated with its joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. to sell Audis. Currently, only FAW-Volkswagen dealerships are authorized to do so.
Volkswagen also plans to produce electric vehicles in China. By 2020, VW wants to sell as many as 400,000 EVs in China annually. A Chinese-produced plug-in hybrid, the Audi A6 L e-tron, will go on sale early next year.