Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) reported on Monday that it sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, maintaining its dominance as the world’s top automaker for a third consecutive year.
The group’s overall sales, which include the truck division Hino Motors (7205.T) and the small-car manufacturer Daihatsu, fell by 0.1%, but record overseas sales of 8.6 million vehicles helped to make up for a 9.6% decline in its domestic market to 1.9 million units.
Second-ranked rival:
As supply chains were disrupted by COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine, second-ranked rival Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE) earlier this month reported its lowest sales in over a decade, of 8.3 million vehicles.
Although Toyota experienced some chip-related supply constraints as well, the Japanese automaker claimed that strong Asian demand, an increase in production capacity, and production optimization in Asia and North America enabled it to increase global production by 5% in 2022.
Toyota reduced its original production forecast for the current fiscal year through the end of March from 9.7 million to 9.2 million vehicles in November.
Global Sales:
Despite still holding the sales throne globally, General Motors dethroned Toyota in the US. Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), which includes Lexus, delivered 2,108,458 vehicles in 2022 compared to GM’s 2,274,088 vehicle deliveries for the year.
Parts shortages are still giving Toyota serious headaches, forcing the company to halt operations at its factory in the Czech Republic in February. The plant in Kolin where workers put together the Aygo X and Yaris will be on a hiatus from January 31 until the end of next month.
Due to supply limitations, global production plans are being modified monthly. If everything goes as planned, Toyota expects to produce 10.6 million vehicles in 2023, or roughly the same amount as in 2018.
“Despite the impact of production constraints caused by the spread of Covid-19, increased demand for semiconductors, and other factors, global sales were at the same level year-on-year as a result of solid demand centered around Asia,” the Japanese carmaker said.
Toyota increased its goals for the industry a year ago and declared it would release 30 battery-powered electric models by the end of the decade. Mio Kato, a Lightstream Research analyst, and author for Smartkarma, told AFP that Toyota was likely to maintain its position as the top seller.
