Toyota keeps best-selling car brand crown for third straight year

Toyota managed to defend its title as the world’s best-selling car brand for 2022, the third consecutive year that it stood head and shoulders above its rivals despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Japanese automaker comes out on top for the third straight year

In a corporate statement it released Monday, the Japanese automaker announced its cumulative figures from January to December 2022 in terms of sales, production, and exports. The tally includes numbers from its subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. and truck maker Hino Motors, Ltd. 

By Toyota’s account, it achieved global sales of more than 10.48 million vehicles, over 9.56 million of which were from the mainline Toyota brand. Daihatsu contributed 766,000 units, while Hino had almost 150,000 vehicles sold. 

The bulk of Toyota’s sales figures came from outside Japan, totaling nearly 8.28 million vehicles. Combined with Daihatsu and Hino, that number rises to almost 8.6 million units, a record figure that helped offset a 9.6 percent drop in Japanese sales. 

Mini vehicles such as the Daihatsu TAFT helped boost Toyota's domestic total to 1.9 million units sold 

In its home market, Toyota sold close to 1.29 million units, including mini vehicles. Along with sales of over 576,000 from Daihatsu and 41,100 from Hino, Toyota’s domestic total amounts to over 1.9 million vehicles sold. 

Worldwide production figures stood at 10.6 million vehicles, with Toyota responsible for over 9 million out of that number. More than half of the total, or almost 6.96 million vehicles, were produced outside of Japan. Meanwhile, out of almost 1.74 million units exported to overseas markets, 1.67 million came from Toyota, with the rest contributed by Hino.       

Toyota soldiered on despite subsidiary Hino's involvement in an emissions falsification scandal 

Toyota’s collective performance for 2022 was impressive, considering production constraints and parts shortages brought about by COVID-19. Worldwide sales were at the same level year-on-year, buoyed by strong demand in Asia. 

Apart from these challenges, the automaker also had to endure controversy as its subsidiary Hino was revealed to have been involved in emissions data falsification as early as 2003. This led the truck maker to stop 60 percent of its planned vehicle shipments for 2022.   

See how your favorite car brands performed during the past 12 months at Philkotse.com.