European car giant Volkswagen said Tuesday it expects its worldwide sales to top the 9.5 million-mark this year.

"Our ambition is to deliver 9.5 million vehicles this year," VW's sales chief Christian Klingler told journalists on the sidelines of the IAA auto show which is scheduled to open its doors this week.

Volkswagen and its 12 different brands has set itself a target to become the world's number one automaker by 2018, with global sales of more than 10 million vehicles.

Analysts believe it will be able to attain that goal well ahead of target, with deliveries already amounting to 9.3 million units in 2012.

VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn said he expects "a certain degree of stabilisation in the European market".