BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen AG said yesterday it sold seven percent more vehicles in the first quarter than it had a year earlier to reach a new high, despite the dampening effect on exports of the strong euro.

Sales for the January-to-March period increased to 1.572 million vehicles — the company's best quarterly sales figure ever, Volkswagen said. Sales in March gained two percent to 619,893 vehicles, even though the month had fewer working days than in the previous year.

The Wolfsburg-based company is "on a good path to reach a new sales record for the whole year in 2008", Volkswagen Group sales head Detlef Wittig said. Europe's biggest automaker by sales was helped by a strong performance in China, where sales rose 32 percent to 268,204 vehicles in the first quarter, and Brazil, which posted a 23 percent increase to 147,752 vehicles.

The euro currency has been hitting record highs in recent weeks against the US dollar, making goods exported from Germany more expensive in the United States.

US sales fell 0.7 percent to 72,224 vehicles in the first quarter, Volkswagen reported.

The company said in March that it was scouting locations in the US for a new plant, to help mitigate the effect of the currency differences.

Volkswagen produces VW cars and trucks and also makes vehicles under the Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti names.