Japan’s Toyota Motor Corporation was the world’s best-selling automaker for the third consecutive year in 2022 despite supply-chain constraints, which plagued the industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

• According to the company, it sold roughly 10.5 million vehicles throughout the year. The sales included those of its subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors. While overall sales dipped 0.1% against 2021 due to a 9.6% drop in domestic sales, overseas deliveries jumped to record highs at 8.6 million vehicles.

Toyota has now held the title of best-selling automaker for three years in a row.

• Germany’s Volkswagen, which ranks second, said earlier this month that overall sales plunged 7% last year to 8.3 million cars, the lowest level of deliveries in over a decade.

Toyota said that despite lingering constraints regarding semiconductor inventories, its overall global output rose 5% last year on strong Asian demand and optimization measures at its plants.

• Its production target for the next fiscal year, which starts in April, is 10.6 million vehicles, which exceeds its pre-pandemic output.

Analysts from S&P Global Mobility predict Toyota’s 2023 sales to surpass last year’s, while Volkswagen is likely to recover from its 2022 slump but will still be unable to outpace its Japanese rival.

• “For both companies, the impact of production constraints will gradually ease. Overall, moderate recovery and growth are seen over the medium to long term,” Yoshiaki Kawano from S&P Global Mobility told Bloomberg.

Source: RT