Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, says it saw record demand for its cars in 2011 with a total of 5.1 million sold worldwide.

Volkswagen said its car sales were up 13.1 per cent compared with the previous year. Europe and China were Volkswagen's biggest markets, with 1.72 million cars sold in each.

China saw 13.8 per cent growth while Europe reported a 11.2 per cent increase.

North America saw a 22.2 per cent rise to almost a half million cars - 324,400 in the US, where sales rose 26.3 per cent.

Lowest growth was reported in South America, which saw a 2.2 per cent rise to 772,800 cars sold.

Smaller markets saw the most dramatic increases, with a 151 per cent rise in India to 76,100, and a 100 per cent increase in Russia to 118,000.