Toyota's global sales and output hit record high in August

Toyota Motor’s global sales rose 9% in August from a year earlier to a record 923,180 vehicles thanks to an improvement in supply conditions and stronger demand.

Global production rose 4% to a record 924,509 vehicles, including subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino, the Japanese carmaker said Thursday.

Sales of Toyota and Lexus brand cars grew more than 3% in Europe, mostly in Italy, Spain and England. But they dropped 4% in Asia, with a 6% decline in China, where the company and other legacy carmakers like Volkswagen face tough competition from Tesla and Chinese electric-vehicle makers such as BYD.

Toyota’s sales in Japan grew 45% from a year earlier in August, and 63% in South Korea.

The world’s best-selling carmaker has told suppliers that it plans to make 150,000 EVs this year, 190,000 in 2024 and 600,000 in 2025, according to a Nikkei report last week.

Toyota sold 11,880 battery EVs in August, bringing its total this year to 65,467. That’s more than double the 24,000 it sold in 2022, but still a far cry from the 1.5 million that Chief Executive Officer Koji Sato vowed to sell every year by 2026. The company didn’t release August EV production figures Thursday.

Earlier in September, Toyota invited journalists on a tour of its factories to showcase the technology it is developing to mass produce battery EVs. With a similar workshop in June, the company continues a publicity campaign to convince stakeholders that it has the means and conviction to catch up and compete with global EV frontrunners like China’s BYD and Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Meanwhile, Honda said its global output fell 2% from the same month last year to 338,434 vehicles in August. Production grew 22% in North America, but fell by 30% in China.

Nissan’s global output declined 3% to 279,237 units, including a 43% drop in China. Global sales rose 1% to 258,371 vehicles.

Mitsubishi Motors, which is ending its China operations according to a Nikkei report, saw sales in the country slump 87% to just 249 vehicles in August. Sales in Japan rose 3% to 7,412 units. Global output dropped 11% to 74,225 vehicles.