Toyota takes over as the world’s leading car manufacturer from Volkswagen in 2020

The king is dead, long live the king ! The world’s leading car manufacturer since the fall of Toyota in 2015, the Volkswagen group in turn fell from its throne at the end of 2020. And it is Toyota who reclaims its crown!

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All brands combined (Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino), the Japanese giant has indeed sold 9.53 million vehicles worldwide in 2020 (9,528,438 to be exact), against 9.3 million for Volkswagen.

Toyota has suffered less from the effects of the health crisis

Pandemic obliges, the sales in volume of Toyota weakened appreciably last year (-11.3%), but in smaller proportions than those of its big rival (-15.2%).

While the Volkswagen group is more dependent on the European market, which has been severely affected by the health crisis, the Japanese notably benefited from a solid increase in its sales in China (+ 10.9% for the Toyota and Lexus brands).

“Despite the Covid-19 pandemic (…), Toyota has been able to continue its activities by putting in place comprehensive prevention measures against infections and by working with its partners, including its suppliers and dealers,” explained the Japanese group in a press release.

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi far behind

Third in the ranking, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance sold 7.7 million units in 2020, a drop of 24% over one year (-22.2% and 4 million units for Nissan, – 21.3% and 2.9 million vehicles for Renault, and -33.1% to 820,000 units for Mitsubishi).

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Source: AFP