(CU)_Toyota has reclaimed its status as the world’s largest carmaker by sales, five years after losing it to German rival Volkswagen.
Despite a turbulent year of plant closures and supply chain disruptions on account of the pandemic, the Japanese group, which also includes its Daihatsu and Hino subsidiaries, sold 9.5 million vehicles in 2020, while its German rival, whose 12 brands include Audi, Porsche and Seat, sold just above 9.3 million last year.
Although both carmakers benefited from a strong recovery in sales in China, the only market to report year-on-year growth, however, Volkswagen has been hit harder by a fall in sales in Europe owing to the pandemic.
In the first half of 2020, the Japanese group’s global sales were down 11.3 per cent from 2019, but later in the year, this fallout was offset by a surge in demand from Westerns markets, and in December, sales in the US jumped 20 per cent from a year earlier, while those in France and Germany soared 85 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively.
Last year, Toyota lost its title as the world’s most valuable carmaker to US electric vehicle group Tesla. However, the company’s focus on hybrids appears to be paying off as it prepares to roll out battery-powered cars over the next two years.
Toyota has partnered with Tesla supplier Panasonic to develop solid-state batteries, which are expected to cut charging times for electric vehicles and to boost driving range. Sources say the carmaker is expected to unveil the technology at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
Although Toyota does not offer any fully electric vehicles, it has been one of the lowest average CO2 emissions per car of any automaker in Europe, all thanks to its hybrid technology which has been available in its Prius model for 20 years.
Despite the recent recovery in sales, analysts say the outlook for the Japanese carmaker remains uncertain as the car industry grapples with a global chip shortage – owing to lockdown-driven increase in video games consoles, laptops and televisions – that has forced automakers to idle plants and furlough workers.
