Monitoring Desk
TOKYO: Japan’s Toyota remained the world’s top-selling automaker in 2022, retaining its lead over German rival Volkswagen for the third consecutive year, the company data showed Monday.
Despite Covid-related supply chain disruption and the chip shortage, Toyota and its subsidiaries sold nearly 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, around the same as in 2021.
In comparison, Volkswagen Group sold 8.3 million units in 2022, an annual drop of 7 percent. Volkswagen Group held the top spot until 2020 when it was overtaken by Toyota.
“Despite increased demand for semiconductors, the impact of production constraints caused by the spread of Covid-19 and other factors, global sales were at the same level year-on-year as a result of solid demand centered around Asia,” said the Japanese car giant.
Toyota sold 2.7m electrified vehicles in 2022
Toyota sold 2.7 million electrified vehicles in 2022, around five percent more than 2021. The vast majority of those i.e. 2.6 million were hybrid models. Toyota pioneered hybrid cars, but the critics say the Toyota company has been slow to shift to battery-powered engines even as demand rises for low-emission automobiles.
Last week Toyota named Koji Sato its new CEO and president, replacing third-generation chief executive Akio Toyoda in a surprise reshuffle of the company’s leadership.
