BERLIN Volkswagen will not participate in a discount battle in China "at any price", Chief Operating Officer Ralf Brandstaetter said in an interview released on Wednesday.

"Volkswagen is focusing on a sustainable business model. In concrete terms, this means that we will not participate in the discount battle at any price," Brandstaetter said in an interview for the company's intranet.

"Our market position is strong enough. For us, the focus is on profitability, not sales volume or market share," he added.

(Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Kirsti Knolle)