Japan's Toyota Sees First Global Sales Decline in 2 Years Amid Slump in China

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. has seen its global sales for the first half of the current fiscal year (April to September) turn to a decline for the first time in two years, weighed down by sluggish performance in the Chinese market.

Toyota announced that its global sales for the first half of fiscal 2026 (including the Toyota and Lexus brands) dropped 4.0% from the same period a year earlier to 5,059,014 units.

This marks the first time in two years that Toyota's first-half global sales have decreased compared to the previous year.

Slumps in the Chinese and Middle Eastern markets dragged down overall performance.

Sales in the Chinese market plummeted 25.1% year-on-year to 684,903 units, hampered by slowed sales of hybrid vehicles (HVs) and gasoline cars due to surging gasoline prices triggered by worsening conditions in the Middle East.

Sales in the Middle East region also dropped 35.1% to 187,802 units.

On the other hand, the North American, European, and Japanese domestic markets maintained solid trends.

Driven by strong HV sales, North American sales rose 1.8% to 1,538,839 units, while the European market increased 1.4% to 594,913 units, and the Japanese domestic market grew 12.4% to 802,798 units.

Eco-friendly vehicle sales reached a record high.

In the first half, global sales of HVs increased 8.4% year-on-year to 2,368,674 units, while battery electric vehicle (EV) sales surged 2.2 times to 230,764 units, both setting record highs for a first-half period.

Meanwhile, total global sales for the Toyota Group, including Daihatsu Motor Co., decreased 4.6% year-on-year to 5,381,058 units for the first half, falling below the previous year's performance for the first time in two years.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.