BRATISLAVA - Volkswagen AG's Slovakian unit said its car production jumped 36.3 percent in 2010 on rising demand for its SUV models in Germany and emerging markets.

Volkswagen Slovakia, one of the euro zone country's key exporters, manufactured 144,510 vehicles last year, up from 106,000 cars in 2009, with revenues rising by 37.4 percent year-on-year to 4.04 billion euros ($5.63 billion), reported Automotive News Europe.

Volkswagen, which plans to invest an additional 1 billion euros in the central European country by 2015, said on Monday that exports to China rose by 5.7 percent, making it the Slovak plants' second-biggest export market after Germany.

The plant near the capital Bratislava produces SUVs including the second-generation Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7, as well as parts of the Porsche Cayenne SUV. The factory will launch production of the new Up small family car later this year.

"We plan to boost the plant's annual production capacity from current 280,000 units to 400,000 units, due to the launch of the new model," VW Slovakia CEO Andreas Tostmann told reporters.

The car sector, including units of Volkswagen, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen SA and Kia Motors Corp., is among the key drivers of Slovakia's 66 billion euro economy, which is expected to rise by about 3.5 percent this year after a 4.0 percent rise in 2010.