Photo: Toyota / Lexus
The Japanese automaker handily beat its closest competitor, Volkswagen AG, after posting some pretty incredible record sales results for 2023 – especially its namesake brand, Toyota, and the Lexus premium division.
Not long ago, Volkswagen AG – a multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Germany that comprises both passenger and commercial vehicle divisions – presented its full sales results for 2023. Between Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Cupra, Jetta, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial, and Traton (Navistar, MAN, Scania, and Volkswagen Truck & Bus), it managed to deliver 9.24 million vehicles last year – most of them in Europe and China.
They were up 12%, outpacing the overall market, and also "slightly" expanded their global market share. However, we refrained from any commentary because we first wanted to see what Toyota had to say about that and if the Japanese automaker could retain the crown of best-selling worldwide carmaker for the fourth time in a row. Well, now the figures from Japan are in, and the Toyota results are pretty darn spectacular – even if the overall growth is slightly smaller, at 7.2%.
However, between Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu, and Hino, the Japanese company managed to sell a whopping 11,233,039 vehicles last year – of which no less than 10,307,395 come from the Toyota and Lexus brands. This led to a 7.7% increase compared to 2022 thanks to solid demand in North America (+7%) and Europe (+9.1%) and big jumps in the Middle East (14.7%) and at home in Japan (29.8%). The reasons for the positive results are easy to explain – the semiconductor crisis is almost over, there was strong consumer demand, and the lesser impact of health crisis concerns.
The only two regions where Toyota and Lexus experienced negative results were Oceania (-0.8%) and China (-0.2%), but it's pretty obvious they were thoroughly offset. The company's Daihatsu subsidiary also posted solid overall growth – it was up 3.2% to over 790k units, though the Hino division experienced a downturn of 9.8% to a little over 135k units. Interestingly, while Toyota launched a barrage of new model introductions last year, it was Lexus that took the crown in terms of absolute growth.
"Lexus will continue to drive unique initiatives, focusing on the development and promotion of battery electric vehicles in pursuit of realizing a carbon-neutral society. In addition, we are committed to responding promptly and accurately to customer needs, adapting to the changing times, and continuously striving to craft cars that bring joy to our customers," said Lexus International President Takashi Watanabe.
The premium division moved 824,258 units last year – a record amount. But what's more astounding is that it performed 132% better than in 2022! That's pretty much unbelievable for a traditional carmaker in this day and age, but obviously possible thanks to North America and Japan, which jumped 124% to almost 287k units and 229% to 41,253 vehicles, respectively. Asia was the runner-up with 113% and 209,562 units, while Japan is inching closer to Europe (+146% and 47,304 units). Things are looking great for both brands in the future with the arrival of the 2024 Lexus GX 550, 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, and Tacoma i-Force Max, as well as the impending introduction of the 2025 Camry and 2025 Crown Signia.
They were up 12%, outpacing the overall market, and also "slightly" expanded their global market share. However, we refrained from any commentary because we first wanted to see what Toyota had to say about that and if the Japanese automaker could retain the crown of best-selling worldwide carmaker for the fourth time in a row. Well, now the figures from Japan are in, and the Toyota results are pretty darn spectacular – even if the overall growth is slightly smaller, at 7.2%.
However, between Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu, and Hino, the Japanese company managed to sell a whopping 11,233,039 vehicles last year – of which no less than 10,307,395 come from the Toyota and Lexus brands. This led to a 7.7% increase compared to 2022 thanks to solid demand in North America (+7%) and Europe (+9.1%) and big jumps in the Middle East (14.7%) and at home in Japan (29.8%). The reasons for the positive results are easy to explain – the semiconductor crisis is almost over, there was strong consumer demand, and the lesser impact of health crisis concerns.
The only two regions where Toyota and Lexus experienced negative results were Oceania (-0.8%) and China (-0.2%), but it's pretty obvious they were thoroughly offset. The company's Daihatsu subsidiary also posted solid overall growth – it was up 3.2% to over 790k units, though the Hino division experienced a downturn of 9.8% to a little over 135k units. Interestingly, while Toyota launched a barrage of new model introductions last year, it was Lexus that took the crown in terms of absolute growth.
"Lexus will continue to drive unique initiatives, focusing on the development and promotion of battery electric vehicles in pursuit of realizing a carbon-neutral society. In addition, we are committed to responding promptly and accurately to customer needs, adapting to the changing times, and continuously striving to craft cars that bring joy to our customers," said Lexus International President Takashi Watanabe.
The premium division moved 824,258 units last year – a record amount. But what's more astounding is that it performed 132% better than in 2022! That's pretty much unbelievable for a traditional carmaker in this day and age, but obviously possible thanks to North America and Japan, which jumped 124% to almost 287k units and 229% to 41,253 vehicles, respectively. Asia was the runner-up with 113% and 209,562 units, while Japan is inching closer to Europe (+146% and 47,304 units). Things are looking great for both brands in the future with the arrival of the 2024 Lexus GX 550, 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, and Tacoma i-Force Max, as well as the impending introduction of the 2025 Camry and 2025 Crown Signia.
✨ Curious about our 2023 delivery performance? Despite challenges, we handed over 9.24 million vehicles to customers globally, marking a solid 12% increase. We outpaced the market & slightly expanded our global market share!
— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) January 9, 2024
Take a closer look at our figures here pic.twitter.com/Rh4nsfAif6
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