Beijing’s sizable German community congregated today at the annual Weihnachtsmarkt. At the German Embassy inside the People’s Republic of China, party-goers loaded-up on Bratwurst, Christstollen and got seasonably drunk. Volkswagen China, headquartered ’round the corner, sponsored a stand at the festival. Not to sell cars. No, they were hawking their fabled “VW-Currywurst,” a culinary delight served every Thursday to the working classes at Wolfsburg’s cafeterias. At the sidelines of the event, and under the influence of truth serums such as Radeberger Pilsner or Glühwein, leading Volkswagen of China execs reiterated what had been the talk around Sanlitun for months: VeeDub is defying gravity in China. In fact, they’ll probably sell more cars in China this year than their parent sells in Germany. According to Gasgoo, Jörg Müller, CFO of VGC (Volkswagen Group China) made the prediction in August. In October, VGC pronounced themselves over target.

A week ago, at the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, VGC head honcho Winfried Vahland revealed the glad tidings. “In the first 10 months of 2008, our new car sales volume in China reached 853,800 (including VW, Audi, Skoda, Lamborghini & Bentley), an increase 12.6 percent compared to the same period of last year, and a step closer towards the target of selling 1 million cars in 2008.”

After the third Glühwein, our source said: “Vahland ain’t stupid. He won’t give a target unless he already knows that it is in the pocket.” All around the table said “prost” and resumed discussing topic number one: where to go during the Christmas holidays.

PS: TheTruthAboutTheCurrywurst: VW Germany produces (in-house!) twice as many sausages as cars. We’re talking two million of the bad boys. The secret sauce is, well, a secret sauce. In other words, the Chinese are already copying it.