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Toyota Maintains Position as Top-Selling Automaker in 2024
In a significant announcement, Toyota Motor Corporation revealed that it sold 10.8 million vehicles in 2024, securing its status as the world’s leading automaker for the fifth consecutive year. This achievement underscores Toyota’s resilience in a highly competitive automotive market.
Despite this milestone, the company experienced a 3.7% reduction in global unit sales, which includes the performances of its subsidiaries, Daihatsu and Hino Motors. This downturn reflects broader challenges facing the automotive industry.
The primary factor contributing to this decline was a substantial drop in sales within Japan, where Toyota has been navigating the repercussions of governance issues related to its vehicle certification processes, particularly with Daihatsu.
In contrast, Volkswagen Group, Toyota’s closest competitor, reported a 2.3% decrease in unit sales, totaling just over 9 million vehicles. This decline comes as Volkswagen aims to streamline costs while facing fierce pricing pressures, especially within the critical Chinese market.
When examining Toyota’s sales of its primary brands, which encompass both the Toyota and Lexus lines, these vehicles saw a 1.4% decrease year-on-year in 2024, amounting to 10.2 million units. Notably, the decline in Japan was particularly pronounced, with sales dipping significantly.
Interestingly, while Toyota achieved record worldwide sales, driven largely by the increasing demand for hybrid vehicles in the United States, the situation in China proved challenging. There, the company experienced a 6.9% decrease in unit sales, attributed to intense price competition in what is recognized as the largest automotive market globally.
In terms of the sales composition of its primary brand vehicles, hybrids represented a remarkable 40.8% of the total sales, indicating a shifting consumer preference towards more environmentally friendly options. However, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up a mere 1.4% of total sales, highlighting the ongoing transition challenges in this emerging segment.
Toyota’s ability to navigate these complex dynamics will be crucial as the company looks to sustain its market leadership amid evolving consumer demands and competitive pressures.
Source
finance.yahoo.com