From January to November, the brand handed over 5.22 million vehicles to customers worldwide compared to 4.69 million for the same period last year – up by 11.2%.

Sales were also up 11.5% for the month of November, with deliveries of 504,800 compared to 453,000 for November 2011.

Deliveries in Europe in the period to November remained on a par with the prior-year period despite the difficult situation. A 6.4% fall in deliveries in Western Europe was contrasted by a 25.9% rise in deliveries to Central and Eastern Europe and 45.3% in Russia.

Encouraging growth was seen outside of Europe, with deliveries up 18.0% in the Asia-Pacific region from January to November and 19.2% in China. Deliveries in North America were up 25.5% and 8.2% in South America.

The carmaker has said that it expects to set a new delivery record for the whole of 2012 but anticipates next year to be challenging.