According to Reuters, Toyota Motor Corporation (including Lexus) experienced a 6.9% year-on-year decline in global sales in February, totaling 719,630 units. This decline was primarily attributed to a significant drop in sales due to the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday and fallout from Daihatsu's safety testing scandal.
In China, the world's largest automotive market, Toyota's sales plummeted by nearly 36% to 83,332 units last month. This sharp decrease can be attributed to the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which lasted for a week in February this year compared to January last year. Additionally, the Chinese automotive market has been embroiled in a fierce price war, and Toyota noted that intense competition has impacted its sales.
In the United States and European markets, Toyota saw sales growth of 16% and 14%, respectively, in February. However, sales in Japan dropped by one-third, impacted by Daihatsu's suspension of production (which also manufactures some Toyota models) and the reputational impact of the Daihatsu scandal. In early 2023, Daihatsu was found to have potentially manipulated tests for half of its models, and an internal investigation revealed 174 violations across 64 models, including 24 Toyota-branded vehicles.
Furthermore, in Indonesia and Thailand, Toyota's sales in February also experienced double-digit declines, dropping by 11.8% (22,322 units) and 23.1% (19,702 units), respectively.
Reuters reported that nearly two-fifths of the vehicles sold by Toyota in February were hybrid electric vehicles.
On a group-wide level, Toyota Motor Corporation (including Daihatsu and Hino Motors) saw a 12% year-on-year decline in sales to 753,648 units last month. Daihatsu's monthly sales plummeted by 66% to 24,753 units. For the first two months of this year, Toyota Motor Corporation's global sales dropped by 4.1% to 1,584,809 units.
Regarding production, Toyota Motor Corporation's global output fell by 12.1% to 789,138 units in February, with cumulative production for the first two months reaching 1,577,808 units, down 8% year-on-year.
