Toyota car sales climb despite US trade tensions

Japanese auto giant Toyota said today (29 January) that global sales hit a new record last year, despite trade tensions, as it retained its title as the world's top automaker and widened the gap with German rival Volkswagen.

Sales, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors, rose 4.6% to 11.3 million vehicles, the company said.

That far outstripped Volkswagen's total of 8.98 million vehicles, which was down 0.5% from the year before.

The overall increase came despite flat sales for Toyota in China, a crucial market where it faces intensifying competition from local automakers, including electric-car champion BYD.

US sales climbed 8% in spite of the 25% tariff on Japanese auto exports imposed by Washington between April and mid-September, when a 15% cap kicked in.

The United States is a key market where Toyota generates almost a quarter of its sales. But of the 2.52 million vehicles it sold there in 2025, only 1.39 million were produced in the country.

Even so, it last year increased output by 10% at its factories in the United States, where it produces its increasingly popular hybrid vehicles.

To keep exporting to the United States on competitive terms, Japanese automakers have had to slash prices.

In early November, Toyota estimated the impact of US duties on its annual operating profit at around 1.45 trillion yen ($9.5 billion).

Other Japanese automakers, meanwhile, are taking a hit.

Nissan, which is in serious financial difficulty, saw sales drop 4.4% to 3.2 million vehicles in 2025, with a 6.3%collapse in its flagship Chinese market.

Honda reported an almost 9% plunge in global sales, to 3.4 million vehicles.