A couple of days ago, Volkswagen announced that in 2011, it sold 324,402 vehicles in the U.S., which amounts to a 26.3 percent increase compared to 2010 recording the brand’s best result since 2002.

On Friday, the German brand issued another press release revealing that it delivered 5.1 million vehicles worldwide, exceeding 5 million annual sales for the first time in its history and recording an impressive 13.1 percent increase over 2010 when it sold 4.5 million units.

“The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand made major gains last year thanks to a fresh, innovative and environmentally-friendly model range”, said VW Group board member for sales, Christian Klingler.

“Our new vehicles such as the Passat, Jetta and Beetle, as well as the Up!, have made an excellent start in difficult market conditions – conditions that will remain challenging in 2012 – and significantly strengthened Volkswagen’s competitive position,” Klingler added.

Apart from the U.S., the VW brand also increased its sales in China by 13.8 percent, to 1.72 million units, South America (+2.2 percent) and even Europe, where it recorded an 11.2 percent increase, exceeding 1.72 million sales.

The brand’s best result percentage-wise, was in Russia: in 2011, VW sold 118,000 vehicles or more than double (+100.4 percent) than the 58,900 units it delivered in 2010.