Volkswagen Sales Climb 4% in July

Volkswagen Group says global sales of its VW brand passenger vehicles climbed to 491,600 units last month from 472,800 in July 2013.

VW brand volume grew 2% to 65,900 units in western Europe and 11% to 210,000 vehicles in China last month. But sales fell 15% to 30,600 in the U.S. and 4% to 46,100 in Brazil.

The marque's sales for January-July rose 4% to 3.56 million vehicles. Growth included a 3% gain to 1.00 million units in Europe and an 18% jump to 1.60 million in China. Volume declined 14% to 209,700 in the U.S. and 20% to 372,300 in South America.

VW says it is "pleased" with July results but acknowledges a "challenging" outlook in some markets in the second half of 2014.