Toyota sells 10.8-million vehicles in 2024 to remain world's top-selling carmaker

Toyota sold 10.8-million vehicles in 2024, it said on Thursday, remaining the world's top-selling carmaker for a fifth straight year.

The Japanese carmaker posted a 3.7% drop in global group unit sales last year, including those of compact car maker Daihatsu and truck unit Hino Motors.

The decline was largely due to a steep slump in sales in Japan where the carmaker faced fallout from governance issues over certification test procedures, especially at Daihatsu.

Second-ranked German rival Volkswagen Group earlier this month reported a 2.3% decline in unit sales last year to just over nine million vehicles, as it seeks to cut costs at home and fight a price war in key market China.

Sales of Toyota's parent-only vehicles, which include those of its namesake and Lexus brands, fell 1.4% from a year earlier in 2024 to 10.2-million vehicles due to a double-digit decline in Japan.

While Toyota sold a record number of cars overall, thanks in part due to demand for its hybrid vehicles in the US, it saw unit sales in China decline by 6.9% amid heavy price competition in the world's top car market.

Of its parent-only sales, petrol-electric hybrids made up a record 40.8%. Battery electric vehicles accounted for 1.4%.