Boosted by its new products and China's economic recovery, Volkswagen Group posted sales growth of 60.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The group, which has maintained its leadership in China's passenger car sector for more than two decades, moved a total of 457,259 cars on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong in the first quarter, up from 284,146 units in the same period of last year.

Robust sales included 362,874 Volkswagens, 51,449 Audi cars, 42,707 Skodas, 185 Bentleys and 44 Lamborghinis.

In March alone, Volkswagen Group's sales in China reached a new monthly record of 169,084 cars, up 50 percent from a year ago.

"The Chinese auto market maintained impressive momentum, benefiting from the strong economic recovery and a renewed incentive policy on the vehicle purchase tax," said Winfried Vahland, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group China.

China's GDP grew by 11.9 percent in the first quarter.

The central government has raised the purchase tax half a percentage point to 7.5 percent on vehicles with engine capacity less than 1.6 liters, but it remains lower than the 10 percent levied in 2008 and before.

"The key to our success in China is providing the right products to our customers." Vahland said. "We will introduce more new models in China than ever this year."

The group announced at the end of last year that it plans to bring seven new models to the Chinese market this year, including the Golf GTI, Tiguan SUV, Audi Q5 SUV and updated Skoda Octavia. Those four were launched in the first quarter.

"Sales in the first quarter allow us to be more optimistic. We have adjusted our previous forecast and now estimate even higher total passenger car market growth in China in 2010," he said.

"For Volkswagen Group China, we want to grow at least in line with the overall market. We will speed up our production and focus especially on customer satisfaction in the coming months."

Vahland last month raised his previous forecast for growth in the overall passenger car market in China this year by 5 percent to 15-20 percent.

Last year, Volkswagen Group delivered a total of 1.4 million cars in China, an increase of 36.7 percent over 2008. It has a plan to increase annual sales in China to 2 million units by 2018. Analysts said the group might achieve the goal this year.