Toyota remains the top-selling car maker for the third year in a row
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Japan-based Toyota’s numbers are in, and they confirmed that the company managed to retain its position as the top-selling carmaker of 2022. This makes it the biggest seller in the world for a third year in a row, and it once again outperformed its biggest rival — Germany’s Volkswagen.
Toyota outperforms Volkswagen third year in a row in 2022
According to the company’s report, Toyota managed to sell 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, which includes its own sales, as well as the sales of its subsidiaries. The firm’s achievement is quite impressive, given the chip shortage and the supply chain disruption caused by covid, which still troubles companies around the world to date.
Even so, the amount of cars that the company sold in 2022 is relatively similar to what it managed to sell in 2021. In comparison, Volkswagen Group’s report shows that the company managed to sell around 8.3 million vehicles in 2022. On a YoY basis, this represents a 7% drop. Volkswagen used to be the top-ranking firm until 2020, but ever since then, it has been losing to the Japanese rival.
Toyota stated that, despite the impact of production constraints, the increase in demand for semiconductors, and other factors, global sales did not change from 2021. The firm encountered solid demand in Asia.
That includes the sale of as many as 2.7 million of electrified cars, which is actually a 5% increase from the year before. The company added that the vast majority of the electrified vehicles sold — 2.6 million out of 2.7 million in total — were hybrids.
Toyota is slow to switch to electric models
This does not come as a surprise, given that Toyota pioneered hybrids, although some have criticized it for being too slow to shift to battery-powered engines.
The company has been unwilling to make this change even as demand for low-emission cars skyrocketed. Despite the economic difficulties, Toyota hiked its targets for the sector last year, announcing that it intends to roll out 30 battery-powered electric models before the end of the current decade.
Lightstream Research’s analyst, Mio Kato, noted that the company would likely remain the top-selling automaker in the near term. When it comes to volumes, General Motors and Volkswagen will find it difficult to surpass the Japanese car giant. He believes that both of Toyota’s competitors are under great pressure in China, with their internal combustion engine business.
Meanwhile, electric-only auto makers, such as China-based BYD, will become a genuine threat to Toyota in the future. Their battery technology is strong, and they already have a lot more experience, as well as better branding. However, this likely should not be expected for a while longer. Electric cars are still too small to be a real threat to legacy carmakers.
