Toyota Is World’s No. 1 Carmaker for Fifth Year in a Row, Beating Out VW

The numbers are in, and the results aren’t entirely surprising. Boosted by an uptick in demand for hybrids in key markets, Toyota secured its title as the world’s biggest carmaker in 2024. The Volkswagen Group came in second for the fifth year in a row in spite of strong headwinds.

Bloomberg reported that Toyota’s global sales totaled 10.8 million vehicles in 2024. Bear in mind that this figure bundles all of the group’s divisions, including its namesake brand, Lexus, Daihatsu (which primarily sells small cars), and Hino (which focuses on trucks). Finishing another year at the top of the industry is a good reason to celebrate, but the news comes with an asterisk: Toyota’s global sales fell by 3.7% in 2024.

Volkswagen and Toyota have taken turns claiming the top spot on the sales chart for several years. Volkswagen came out ahead in 2016, against a great many odds, but Toyota snagged the crown in 2020 and hasn’t given it up since. In 2024, the Volkswagen Group finished second with 9.03 million cars sold, a 2.3% drop compared to 2023. Competition in and from China and a downturn in the EV market largely explain the decrease.

Toyota is one of the few carmakers that hasn’t gone all-in on electric cars, and this strategy likely helped it retain the sales crown as demand for EVs fell in many regions. It sold over 4.2 million hybrids last year, up from 3.5 million in 2023. Its EV sales totaled 139,892 units in 2024, a big increase compared to the 104,018 units sold in 2023 but a figure that nonetheless represents little more than a rounding error for the company.

In contrast, Volkswagen sold about 745,000 EVs in 2024, a 3.4% drop from 2023’s results, and 270,000 plug-in hybrids, up 5% from last year. The numbers are telling: Volkswagen delivered 8% more EVs in China in 2024 than in 2023, but deliveries dropped by 30% in the United States.

Several other industry giants have published their 2024 sales figures. China-based BYD sold 4.3 million cars in 2024, a huge 41% jump compared to 2023. That number includes 1.8 million electric cars, according to Bloomberg. BYD’s main market is China, where government incentives and mandates are pushing carmakers and motorists toward an all-electric future. Meanwhile, Hyundai sold 4.1 million cars in 2024, a 1.8% drop from 2023.

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