Toyota Motor Corp. has reached new heights in terms of sales and production in June, as the company continues to recover from the impact of semiconductor shortages and other supply chain disruptions. The global sales figures for June showed a 9% increase, reaching 968,801 vehicles sold, including sales from its subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. Additionally, monthly output also saw a significant growth of nearly 10%, with just over 1 million vehicles produced.
The biggest surge in sales was seen in Japan, Africa, Europe, and North America. However, there was a decline of almost 13% in sales compared to the previous year in China. This decline is attributed to the lack of electric vehicle (EV) models offered by Toyota in the Chinese market, which has resulted in global automakers like Toyota and Volkswagen AG losing ground to domestic manufacturers such as BYD Co. In fact, Toyota's production in China also fell by 18% to 167,987 vehicles, leading to the dismissal of around 1,000 contracted factory workers in the country.
Earlier this year, Toyota underwent a rare leadership change, followed by an extensive campaign aimed at improving public sentiment regarding its electric vehicle strategy. The company has also been working to convince shareholders that it will deliver on its promises to rapidly expand the production of battery-based EVs. In the first half of 2023, Toyota's global output reached a record-breaking 5.6 million cars. Furthermore, the sales of battery EVs for its Toyota and Lexus brands witnessed a staggering 517% increase in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year, with 46,171 cars sold.
Under the leadership of Koji Sato, who took over as the new CEO of Lexus in April, Toyota is aiming to sell 1.5 million battery EVs annually by 2026. This is a revision of the company's earlier target of selling 3.5 million EVs by 2030. Despite these ambitious goals, Toyota maintains that the world is not yet ready for a complete transition to EVs, and argues that Tesla Inc. and BYD are currently the frontrunners in the market.
Toyota is set to release its first-quarter earnings next Tuesday, which will shed more light on the company's financial performance and provide further insights into its EV strategy and progress.
In contrast, Honda Motor Co. reported a 4% drop in global production in June compared to the previous year, with 371,837 vehicles produced. Domestic sales for Honda also saw a decline of over 10% during the same period. Although the company experienced a slight growth of around 5% in production during the first half of 2023, sales in Japan have declined for the second consecutive year.
Nissan Motor Co., on the other hand, saw a 5.7% increase in global output during the first half of the year, with 1.7 million vehicles produced. In June alone, the company manufactured 294,468 cars.