Toyota is the world’s top-selling automaker again, despite a drop in sales – 10.8 million units sold in 2024

Despite a slight drop in numbers, Toyota has held on to its position as the world’s best-selling automaker for a fifth straight year. The Japanese automaker sold 10.8 million vehicles in 2024 to finish ahead of German rival Volkswagen yet again.

the Japanese automaker’s group unit numbers, which represents the combined sales for its Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino brands, is a 3.7% decrease from the record 11.2 million units it managed in 2023. The decline was primarily due to a slump in domestic sales in Japan, where the brand struggled to handle the fallout stemming from safety scandals over certification test procedures, especially at Daihatsu.

Toyota’s parent-only vehicle sales, consisting of those from Toyota and Lexus brands, fell 1.4% to 10.2 million vehicles due to a decline in Japan.

The automaker said that hybrids accounted for 40.8% of its total sales, while battery electric vehicles made for 1.4% of overall volume. While demand for its hybrid vehicles were strong in the United States, the company said that sales in China dropped by 6.9% due to aggressive and intensive price competition in the world’s largest car market.

As for Volkswagen, it reported earlier this month a 2.3% decline in unit sales last year to slightly over nine million vehicles. The German automaker has been having issues of its own. In September it said it was considering plant closures for the first time in its history, and while that was eventually averted, the company has said it is set to cut more than 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 to help save around 1.5 billion euros (RM7.03 billion) annually.

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