Toyota Retains Top-Selling Automaker Position While Continuing to Trail Tesla, BYD In EV Sales

Toyota Motor TM retained its position as the world’s best-selling automaker in 2024 after reporting 10.8 million sales, marking a dip of 4% from a year ago.

What Happened: The dip in sales, the company said, was spurred by a near 20% fall in sales within its home ground of Japan. Domestic vehicle sales, it said, were affected by certification issues and suspension of production of the Prius.

The sales numbers include those of the company’s Lexus brand as well as its subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino. Daihatsu reported sales of 536,588 units worldwide in 2024 while Hino reported sales of 125,556 units.

German automaker Volkswagen Group, in comparison, sold only about 9 million vehicles last year.

Toyota Trails Behind Tesla In EV Sales: Despite retaining its position as the top-selling automaker globally for five straight years, Toyota’s electrified vehicle sales amounted to just 4.5 million vehicles in 2024. Electrified vehicles refer collectively to hybrid, plug-hybrid, battery-powered, mild hybrid, and fuel-cell electric vehicles.

The company sold only 139,892 battery electric vehicles or pure electric vehicles throughout the year, lower than American EV giant Tesla Inc. TSLA or Chinese EV maker BYD Co. BYDDF.

Tesla delivered nearly 1.79 million BEVs in 2024 while BYD delivered 1.76 million pure electric vehicles.

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