Volkswagen sales rise nearly 4%

German automaker Volkswagen said its third-quarter profit soared on improved sales in Asia, Europe and South America, along with lower costs for building cars.

The company earned 947 million euros ($1.35 million) in the period, compared with 23 million euros a year earlier, beating the 865 million euros that analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted. Last year’s earnings report included costs from job cuts and streamlining production.

Sales rose nearly 4% to 26.1 billion euros ($37.35 billion).