German car maker Volkswagen AG has said it wants to spend 4 billion euros (US$5.8 billion) in China between now and 2011 on new products and plant expansions to keep up with rising demand there.

The Wolfsburg-based company plans to make investments, including increasing capacity, at its Nanjing and Chengdu plants, where it hopes to produce two new models starting in 2012.

VW said last Friday that the move would be financed through existing cash flow from the region.

"China is the world's most important market for Volkswagen where we have a very wide product pallet," VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said.

"The demand for our products is rising so quickly there that our existing capacity can't keep up."

The company said it would see double digit growth in China this year and that it would secure its market leadership there. VW expects to double its sales in China - to more than 2 million vehicles, as part of its "Strategy 2018" - sooner than expected.

(Shanghai Daily September 14, 2009)