The dependent ViewModel gets injected via the constructor (IoC container).
Example: ProductSelectionViewModel uses ShoppingBasketViewModel.
Is this a common practice or is this THE recommended way? I don´t think so...
How should it be done right?
Should the view use the 2 ViewModels? Mediator pattern? Event driven?
Personally I don´t like the last one.
There's nothing wrong with a view model having a direct reference to another view model, if it is a required dependency, then injecting it via the constructor is fine.
If you wish for a view model to be able to create new instances of another view model, then injecting a view model factory type would be the way to go.