While rivals skate with electric cars, Japanese company bets on diversification and opens 2.3 million cars ahead of the lead
For the sixth consecutive year, Toyota secured the title of the world’s largest automaker, recording an all-time sales record in 2025. The Japanese group — which includes the Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino brands — sold 11.23 million global vehicles, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier. The result not only consolidates the lead, but drastically widens the distance to the second place.
While Toyota accelerated, Volkswagen, the runner-up, saw its numbers shrink 0.5%, closing the year with 8.9 million units. With this, the Japanese automaker opened a lead of 2.33 million vehicles over the German rival, the largest gap recorded between the two giants since 2013. The performance validates the company’s strategy of not betting all its chips only on pure electric vehicles.
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The record performance was primarily driven by demand in North America and an unexpected recovery in Asia. In the United States, the group’s sales jumped 14.2%. In China, where foreign automakers have been losing ground, Toyota managed to stop the bleeding: it recorded a timid but symbolic rise of 0.2%, interrupting a five-year streak of declines thanks to aggressive promotions and new models.
The product mix makes clear the preference of today’s consumer. Hybrid vehicles (HEV) accounted for almost 42% of the brand’s total sales, confirming the technology as the engine of the company’s profit. On the other hand, purely electric vehicles (BEVs), although they have grown in volume, still occupy a restricted niche in the Japanese company’s portfolio, corresponding to only 1.9% of the total sold. The Toyota and Lexus brands alone accounted for 10.47 million of sales
