UPDATE 1-Volkswagen to pour $3.5 bln into Brazil '10 to '14

* VW's plan tops Ford's $2.3 bln expansion program

* Car sales expected to hit record in Brazil this yr

* VW aims to become market leader-Brazil unit CEO (Recasts to add comment, background)

SAO PAULO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Cotización), Europe's largest carmaker, plans to invest up to 6.2 billion reais ($3.5 billion) in Brazil from 2010 through 2014 as it aims to become the country's biggest carmaker, the company's Brazilian head said on Thursday.

The investment plans come as Volkswagen sees auto sales in Brazil reaching as high as 4 million units per year in 2014, a 33 percent increase from the current 3 million per year.

"We're working to take the lead in the Brazilian market, but the focus is on growing in a sustainable way," Thomas Schmall said in Sao Paulo.

Emerging markets have picked up the slack for sagging vehicle sales in the United States, where the worst recession in about eight decades led automakers to slash production and seek money from the government to keep afloat.

Brazil has been a rare bright spot for global automakers, which are suffering much more in core markets like the United States and Europe.

Car sales in the country are on track to hit a record in 2009, boosted by government tax incentives that helped lower car prices and lure consumers to showrooms.