Toyota still top-selling automaker in the world in 2022; also #1 in the Philippines

Toyota Motor Corporation, for the third year in a row, trounced other carmakers by hitting the top of the 2022 global sales charts.

The Japanese carmaker reported on January 2023 that it sold around 10.48 million units last year. These include sales of Hino Trucks and small-car manufacturer Daihatsu, which Toyota partly owns.

This figure is some 0.1 percent down from 2021’s total of 10,495,548, largely because of a nearly 10-percent decrease in sales in Toyota’s home market. The company only sold around 1.9 million units in Japan in 2022 compared to 2,108,810 in 2021.

However, this decline was offset by record overseas sales, which hit around 8.6 million units in 2022 compared to 8,386,738 in 2021.

Toyota remains far ahead of German car giant Volkswagen, which experienced a 7-percent sales plunge in 2022 with just 8.26 million units.

Toyota Philippines also #1

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) retained its iron grip over the local car market.

According to data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI), TMP comprised 173,245 of the 352,596 units that CAMPI sold in 2022 for a market share of 49.13 percent. This excludes figures from luxury brand Lexus.

TMP also had eight models in the top 10 best-sellers from last year, with the Toyota Vios subcompact sedan selling 34,465 units. Here's how other models performed:

New captain

Toyota Motor Corporation is also getting a major corporate movement in 2023.

Company president and CEO Akio Toyoda, grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda, will step down on April 1 after nearly 15 years at the helm. He will replace Takeshi Uchiyamada as Toyota’s chairman. 

Meanwhile, Toyoda will be succeeded by Toyota branding officer Koji Sato, who is also the incumbent president of Lexus and GAZOO Racing.

The corporate movement comes at a major crossroads for Toyota, which has been reluctant to fully commit to battery-electric vehicles (EV) since Toyoda’s reign started in 2009.

Nonetheless, Toyota’s battery EVs as of press time include the bZ3 sedan, along with the bZ4x and Lexus RZ crossovers.

Under Toyoda, the company has also been refining its hybrid EVs and developing hydrogen as a cleaner replacement for gasoline in internal-combustion engines.

Do you think Toyota remain on top in 2023?