Toyota Preserves World’s Top-Selling Automaker Title in 2023

Japanese car giant Toyota Motor Corp. preserved its position as the world’s top-selling automaker on Tuesday as the company posted record sales in 2023.

Toyota stated that it sold a record 11.2 million cars the previous year, allowing it to defend its title for the fourth consecutive year.

Its global group sales, including its truck arm Hino Motors Ltd. and small-car brand Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd., rose 7.2% in 2023 as overseas sales climbed to a record of 8.9 million units.

Toyota’s sole vehicle sales, which comprises the parent itself and its luxury car maker Lexus, also posted a record 10.3 million units the year earlier. Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles represented over 30% of the sales, while battery electric cars represented less than 1%.

Germany’s Volkswagen Group followed behind Toyota, seeing deliveries increase 12.0% last year to 9.2 million vehicles, indicating a post-pandemic rebound due to fewer supply chain constraints.

Toyota Urges Immediate Airbag Repairs for US Car Owners

Toyota’s sales report came after the company warned US owners on Monday to stop driving its vehicles immediately, citing a serious airbag issue.

Under its “Do Not Drive” notice, the Aichi, Japan-based automaker advised owners of 50,000 older vehicles in the country to have their cars’ air bag inflators fixed right away as they are at risk of a fatal explosion from the device.

The advisory focuses on Toyota’s major models, including the 2003-2004 Corollas and Corolla Matrixes and 2004-2005 RAV4s with inflators produced by Takata Corp.

The Japanese automotive parts maker has been at the center of the airbag issue since 2009. It has been associated with over 30 vehicle-related fatalities worldwide, including 26 in the US, and hundreds of drivers injured due to its air bag inflators blowing apart, releasing metal shrapnel in cars and trucks.

In the last ten years, Takata has observed more than 20 automakers in the US call back over 67 million of its said device and more than 100 million globally in what has been described as the largest safety recall in history.

Toyota said the RAV4 callback involves drivers’ airbags, while other recalls only cover front passengers’ airbags. Certain Corolla and Corolla Matrix units are also part of another callback looking into a problem with airbags deploying without collision.