Toyota defends title as world's top-selling automaker in 2022

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, it said on Monday, defending its title as the world's top-selling automaker for a third straight year.

Global sales for the group, including truck unit Hino Motors (7205.T) and small-car maker Daihatsu, inched down 0.1 per cent as record overseas sales of 8.6 million vehicles helped offset a 9.6 per cent dip in its home market to 1.9 million.

Second-ranked rival Volkswagen Group (VOWG_p.DE) earlier this month reported its lowest sales in over a decade, of 8.3 million vehicles, as COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine upended supply chains.

While some chip-related supply constraints remained for Toyota as well, the Japanese automaker said strong demand in Asia and an increase in the production capacity and optimisation in Asia and North America helped it boost global production by 5 per cent in 2022.

Toyota in November revised its production forecast for the current financial year through the end of March, to 9.2 million vehicles from 9.7 million.