Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG said sales of its namesake brand rose 13 percent to a record 5.1 million cars and sport-utility vehicles in 2011.

The growth was fueled by gains in China, the U.S., Russia and India, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said today in a statement. The market environment will remain “challenging” in 2012, sales chief Christian Klingler said in the statement.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Reiter at creiter2@bloomberg.net