US Shareholder Becomes No. 2 at VW

US investment firm Brandes Investment Partners has become the second-biggest shareholder at Volkswagen. As of the end of July, the company's interest in VW had grown to 10.65 percent, the Wolfsburg, Germany, based firm reported on Monday. Last January, the company had VW holdings of 6.15 percent. VW's biggest shareholder is still the state of Lower-Saxony, which holds an 18-percent share in the company. The San Diego, Calif. based investment firm said it would make the shares available to other investors but would maintain voting rights for them. The firm also serves as a consultancy to other investment companies. Separately, VW reported that sales of its latest Golf model rose 23 percent in July compared to a year earlier. The new Golf has been a bit of a disappointment for Europe's biggest carmaker, but it seems it's now managing to shift more and more. It sold 48,000 units in July, compared with 44,000 for June.