It seems despite the economic doom and gloom of last year that most manufacturers have enjoyed a healthy sales year in Australia, including Volkswagen who has achieved its fifth straight year of growth.

With total vehicle sales of 30,087 units in 2009, Volkswagen consolidated its position as the 10th highest selling brand in Australia, growing at 0.7 per cent in 2009.

The increase of 0.2 per cent in total market share now brings Volkswagen’s total market share to 3.2 per cent.

This year the top performing Volkswagen models, with significant growth over the prior year, were Tiguan (up 324.0 per cent) and Caravelle (up 101.1 per cent). The Golf managed a sales increase of 4.4 per cent with total sales of 12,141 to continue its reign as Volkswagen’s best selling model.

“A number of significant new models arriving on the Australian market in 2010 will put Volkswagen into a very good position for continued growth,” said Volkswagen Group Australia’s Managing Director, Anke Koeckler.

“Amongst these is the launch of the Golf Wagon in February, which will increase the appeal of the Golf range. Our new Polo, the European Car of the Year 2010, will also be a promising contender in the small car segment on the Australian market arriving in the 2nd quarter of 2010.”

“It was a very competitive market situation in Australia due to the global financial crises which put a lot of pressure on the automotive industry. However, our strong model line-up and dealer network allowed us to still perform well in this challenging environment. We plan to build on this strong position as we move ahead in 2010.”