Toyota has defended its top position as the world’s largest car manufacturer and achieved record sales in 2025. The Japanese group increased its global sales by 4.6 percent to 11.3 million vehicles, the company announced on Thursday. The Japanese left behind their German rival Volkswagen and achieved the most cars sold for the sixth time in a row. The Wolfsburg-based company is currently struggling with high costs at home and strong competition in China; they had reported a 0.5 percent decline in sales to almost nine million vehicles. The growth drivers for Toyota were primarily the USA and the home market of Japan, which together accounted for more than 40 percent of the parent company’s sales. The core brands Toyota and Lexus grew by 3.7 percent worldwide to a record 10.5 million units, with the group benefiting particularly from the strong demand for hybrid vehicles in the USA. More on the topic Exports from Japan to the United States climbed by a good 14 percent to around 615,000 vehicles. The SUV model RAV4 was particularly in demand. Toyota also recorded growth in the highly competitive Chinese market with an increase of 0.2 percent for the first time in four years. In the area of drive technology, the hybrid models continue to pay off for the Japanese. Gasoline-electric drives accounted for 42 percent of the core brand’s sales worldwide, while pure electric cars (BEVs) accounted for 1.9 percent. In addition to the core brands, the group’s total sales also include the small car subsidiary Daihatsu and the truck manufacturer Hino Motors.
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