Thomas Zahn, deputy managing director of SAIC-Volkswagen Sales Co Ltd and executive director of Volkswagen brand of Shanghai Volkswagen. [Photos / Provided to China Daily]

Shanghai- China's auto market has become intensely competitive with ever-more brands and models for consumers to choose from.

As the first Sino-foreign car joint venture in China, Shanghai Volkswagen - the partnership between German automaker Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp - vows to accelerate growth in the more challenging environment due to its strong products.

The company currently builds VW and Skoda brand cars in Shanghai. Its five VW models - New Polo, Lavida, Passat, Tiguan and Touran - cover segments from subcompact, compact and mid-sized car to multi-purpose vehicle and sport utility vehicle. All have had stunning sales in China this year.

"Five cars, at the same time hero cars, this never happens," said Thomas Zahn, deputy managing director of SAIC-Volkswagen Sales Co Ltd and executive director of Volkswagen brand of Shanghai Volkswagen.

All five cars now rank among the top in their segments in sales and have the chance to become No 1, Zahn told China Daily in an interview last week, noting it is a "unique" development for Shanghai Volkswagen.

It is not yet time to celebrate, but the company is on its way to achieving the target, Zahn said with confidence.

Market performance

New to the market in April this year, the new Passat is the star among all the "hero cars", with sales surging month by month in a segment that has long been dominated by the Honda Accord, Toyota's Camry and the Teana from Nissan, all Japanese models.

At the Chengdu Auto Show in September, Shanghai Volkswagen introduced a version of the new Passat equipped with 1.4 TSI engine, a crucial step in the product range that appeals to more customers, Zahn said.

The company is about to bring out another version of the new Passat, with a 3.0 L V6 engine, at the upcoming Guangzhou Auto Show to further broaden the customer base, Zahn said.

On the same day Zahn talked about Shanghai Volkswagen's sales success and latest models, Toyota debuted its seventh-generation Camry in Shanghai, which will go head to head with the new Passat.

Shanghai Volkswagen declared at the April launch of the new Passat that it expects the model to top the mid-sized sedan market in China, Zahn said, adding that the goal has not changed.

About 58,000 new Passat sedans were sold by the end of October, and the model's sales in so far this month hit 13,000 units, according to Zahn.

He noted that the new Passat has come very close to the top position in its segment and will see continued volume growth in the remaining months of this year and also next year.

The joint venture has also reported robust growth in sales by its subcompact New Polo model, which "fits really well to the Chinese market, especially demands of young urban buyers", Zahn said.

The Polo family sold more than 113,000 cars in the first 10 months the year.

For the Touran MPV and Tiguan SUV, both are well positioned to tap the huge potential in their segments, he said.

The Touran is designed for the family market, combining versatility, flexibility and advanced technology, while the Tiguan is a good choice for buyers that demand a city SUV for both status and personality, Zahn said.

Both the New Polo and New Touran were launched at the end of last year, following the Tiguan that entered the market in March, 2010.

Benefiting from the intensive product launch over the past 20 months, Shanghai Volkswagen has seen surging sales and rising fame. Along with stable performance of its Skoda cars, the company's sales in the first 10 months totaled 900,000 vehicles, a 13.6 percent increase over a year earlier.

Zahn didn't disclose how many cars that the joint venture aims to deliver this year, just said that the company has formulated a "2020 strategy" and is determined to be a long-term market leader in China.

Last year Shanghai Volkswagen produced and sold more than 1 million cars in China, including over 800,000 VWs and some 200,000 Skodas.

It only lagged slightly behind General Motor's joint venture in Shanghai as sales leader among all Sino-foreign auto joint ventures.

Zahn said that so far this year the joint venture's VW brand outperformed the market, increasing its share of overall sales from 7 percent of the total in 2010 to 7.4 percent so far this year.

The Skoda brand registered growth in line with the market and maintained the same share as last year.

Even with long history in Europe, for the young brand starts production in China only since 2007. Skoda has just begun its journey in the country. And it is a great achievement for the brand in China to sell 200,000 cars last year.

This mark will be topped this year, in which all three models Octavia, Fabia and Superb ranking around top 10 in their segments, Fabia even on place 4. On top of this the brand has built up a strong brand image just four years after its China launch, Zahn said.

He added that it will be a successful journey for Skoda in China, and the future he envisions for the Czech brand is a growing network, more new products and further strong brand development.

Volkswagen also has a joint venture with FAW Group in northern China that makes VW and Audi cars. Propelled by strong growth from both joint ventures, the group is about to set a new sales record of more than 2 million vehicles in the country this year.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, several global research firms predict that Volkswagen is likely to outperform Toyota and General Motors to become the world's biggest carmaker this year, due to gains in emerging markets including China.

Total sales of the carmaker could be 8.1 million vehicles this year, the report said.