Japanese automaker Toyota has become the world’s biggest car manufacturer overtaking Volkswagen with 9.5 million vehicles sold in last year.
Despite a lower than expected sales in 2020 due to the pandemic, Toyota regained the title with the most number of cars sold after five years as its German rival Volkswagen reported a slump in sales due to the pandemic with only 9.4 million cars sold.
The company reported Thursday (January 28) that their global car sales were down by 10.5 percent last year but was able to maintain domestic production at a 3 million level.
A big boost to the company’s global sales is the higher car sales in China with 10.9 percent year-on-year sales which bolstered the company’s global sales by 10.3 percent year-on-year.
In December, global sales were up 10.3 percent year-on-year, the fourth consecutive monthly increase driven primarily by sales in North America, China, Europe, and Japan.
During the October to December quarter, global sales were also up 6.8 percent exceeding initial expectations due to the pandemic. Initial expectations were that sales would approximately be flat in the October to December quarter and up approximately five percent in the January to March quarter.
Toyota deliveries dropped 11.3% in 2020 compared to the previous year, while rival Volkswagen suffered a 15.2% slide. The extent of Toyota’s sales losses was largely determined by the level of exposure to the regions most disrupted by the virus.
With Volkswagen supplying most of its vehicles in Europe, a decline in car sales due to lockdowns and poor economic situation in the region badly affected its sales in 2020.
Toyota’s global production in 2020 was down 12.6 percent year-on-year, but production in China was up 9.5 percent year-on-year period.
In December, global production was up 14.4 percent year-on-year, the fourth consecutive monthly increase. The increases have also been driven primarily by production in North America, Japan, China, and Europe.
The Tokyo-headquartered car manufacturer’s global ratio of electric vehicle sales also increased from approximately 20 percent in 2019 to approximately 23 percent in 2020. The increase was driven primarily by sales in Europe, China, and North America.
The company said its best-selling Toyota vehicle from January to December 2020 was the RAV4, with global sales of 994,000 units (up 2.9 percent year-on-year).
This result was due to strong sales in North America, the primary market, as well as in China, which had sales of 175,000 units (up 37.9 percent year-on-year).
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