China puts Porsche in the fast lane as luxury car maker sets a new record

Times may be tough for the economies of the world, but the global pinch has yet to reach the Porsche-driving classes.

The luxury car giant today revealed it had already sold a record number of cars this year.

It shifted 128,978 vehicles worldwide in the 11 months to November, beating the 118,868 sold in the whole of last year.

Porsche has seen surging demand for its vehicles in 2012, with sales last month alone up 39 per cent the previous year, and the luxury sector showing no sign of the malaise hampering the lower end of the car market. The boom in sales has been driven by China and the US, where Porsche managed sales growth of 63.4 per cent and 71.4 per cent respectively.

Europe, where overall car sales have fallen by more than 7 per cent overall, did not prove so fruitful, although Porsche still managed growth of 6.8 per cent on the continent.

The result is good news for Volkswagen, which completed a €4.46bn (£3.6bn) takeover of the car maker in July.

Bernhard Maier, the sales and marketing director at Porsche, said: "The fact we have already surpassed the previous year's result in November is no reason for us to rest on our laurels.

"On the contrary, it is an incentive to deliver maximum performance in the next year."

Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover also posted record numbers today as it announced it had sold 29,893 cars in November.

The Indian-owned car maker enjoyed a 14 per cent increase in sales on the same period a year earlier.

Earlier in the week it announced it was carrying out a feasibility study to look at the possibility of making cars in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to tap the country's vast oil wealth.