FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen said Monday its worldwide deliveries increased by nearly 7 percent in July despite the global recession that has ravaged the sector this year, according to The Associated Press.

The Wolfsburg-based company said sales of all brands rose to 556,900 vehicles in July, compared with 521,100 in the same month a year ago. The year-ago results don't include those of truckmaker Scania, which it recently started accounting.

Global sales for the first seven months, however, fell about 4 percent to 3.7 million vehicles from 3.8 million in the January-July period of 2008.