Sixteen automakers including overseas giants such as Tesla and VW recorded monthly deliveries of more 10,000 in China last month

He said that without the Chinese market - which accounted for 3.3 million VW sales last year, including its electric ID.4 model - inflation would explode

Global carmakers are falling behind Chinese electric car companies in the world's biggest car market, with no foreign brands among the top 10 carmakers in the China EV segment this year, except for Tesla in third place.

Volkswagen said it would likely double sales of its battery electric vehicles in China this year and aims to do even better but it could be hamstrung by a shortage of semiconductors.