Toyota retains title of world's largest automaker

(Patria) - Japanese automotive giant Toyota Motor retained its position as the world's top-selling automaker in 2023, once again surpassing German Volkswagen.

The Japanese giant sold 11.2 million vehicles last year, including small cars from Daihatsu and trucks from Hino Motors, up 7.2 percent from 2022.

Those two and subsidiary Toyota Industries are facing problems involving vehicle and engine testing procedures that could damage the brand's global reputation, Hina reports.

- I would like to offer my deepest apologies to our customers and shareholders for the inconvenience and concern caused by irregularities at Hino Motors, Daihatsu and Toyota Industries - said Toyota President Akio Toyoda to reporters.

The Toyota group's global sales exceeded 10 million vehicles in nine of the past ten years, except for 2020 when the pandemic dealt a blow to the automotive sector.

In second place on the global ranking is the German group Volkswagen, which delivered 9.2 million vehicles last year, up 12 percent from 2022, signaling a recovery from pandemic-related supply chain problems.

The Japanese group sold 10.3 million vehicles last year, a third of which were gasoline-electric hybrids. The share of battery electric vehicles is less than one percent.

Daihatsu halted shipments of all cars in December after an investigation uncovered problems in 64 models, including nearly twenty sold under the Toyota brand.

The group member announced yesterday that it produced only 121,000 vehicles in December, down 25 percent from the same period the previous year.

Their sales fell by about eight percent. Japan's transport ministry lifted a shipment ban on ten Daihatsu models yesterday.

Toyota, meanwhile, announced on Monday that it is suspending shipments of some models, including the Hilux pickup and Land Cruiser 300 SUV, after an independent commission found irregularities in diesel engine tests developed by supplier Toyota Industries.

In 2022, a commission found that Hino Motors had falsified emissions data for trucks since 2003.