TOKYO, Jan 29 - Toyota Motor said it sold a record 11.3 million vehicles worldwide in 2025, retaining the title of the world's top-selling automaker for a sixth straight year. The company reported that global group sales increased 4.6% compared with the prior year, a total that includes vehicles from the Toyota and Lexus brands as well as units sold by small-car maker Daihatsu and truck manufacturer Hino Motors.
Second-ranked Volkswagen Group disclosed this month that its unit sales fell 0.5% in 2025 to just under 9 million vehicles, a decline that Volkswagen said comes amid efforts to reduce costs and fierce competition in China.
Toyota's expansion in 2025 was concentrated largely in the United States and Japan. Those two markets together accounted for more than two-fifths of sales at the parent company level, supporting the automaker's overall growth.
The Toyota and Lexus brands sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2025, a 3.7% increase from the previous year and a new record for the brands. The company said strong consumer demand for hybrid vehicles in the U.S. contributed to that performance.
Exports from Japan to the United States rose 14.2% to roughly 615,000 vehicles, with the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle among the most popular models shipped to the U.S. market.
In China, Toyota's sales rose slightly by 0.2% in 2025, the first year in four that sales in the country did not decline. The result comes even as competition in the world's largest car market remained intense.
Across the parent company globally, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles represented 42% of sales, while battery-electric vehicles accounted for 1.9% of total sales.
Analysis note: The data show Toyota extending its lead in unit sales while relying heavily on demand in the U.S. and Japan and maintaining a substantial hybrid mix. China presented a stabilization in sales after years of decline, and the company’s battery-electric vehicle share remains small relative to hybrids.