Mucahithan Avcioglu
31 July 2026•Update: 31 July 2026
Toyota Motor retained its position as the world’s largest automaker by sales in the first half of 2026, extending its lead over Germany’s Volkswagen Group.
Toyota’s groupwide sales totaled 5.39 million vehicles in January-June, down 2.8% from the same period last year. The Japanese manufacturer has now ranked first in global first-half vehicle sales for seven consecutive years.
Sales in Toyota’s domestic market increased 4.4% year-on-year to nearly 1.1 million vehicles, while overseas sales fell 4.5% to about 4.3 million.
Sales of Toyota and Lexus-branded vehicles alone declined 2.9% to 5.01 million units. North American sales increased 0.9% to 1.45 million, including a 0.5% rise in the US, while sales in Japan grew 4.7% to nearly 805,000.
The company said solid demand in North America and Japan was outweighed by weaker sales in China. Toyota and Lexus sales in China fell 17.1% to nearly 695,000 units, while Middle East sales dropped 21.6% to about 219,000.
North American demand was supported by hybrid vehicles and models, including the Camry and 4Runner, although the transition to the new RAV4 limited overall growth. In Japan, sales were boosted by demand for new models, including the RAV4 and battery-electric bZ4X.
Toyota’s electrified vehicle sales, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric, and fuel-cell models, rose 9.1% to 2.71 million units, accounting for about 54% of Toyota and Lexus sales.
Hybrid sales increased 4.4% to 2.33 million units, while battery-electric vehicle sales surged 135.3% to more than 193,000.
Groupwide production slipped 0.3% to 5.51 million vehicles. Production in Japan rose 1.9% to 2.09 million units, while overseas output declined 1.6% to 3.42 million.
Volkswagen Group, Toyota’s closest rival, delivered 4.13 million vehicles worldwide during the first six months, down 6.3% year-on-year and about 1.26 million fewer than Toyota.
Volkswagen’s deliveries in China plunged 25.9% to 973,000 vehicles amid a sharp contraction in the overall market. Growth of 3.5% in Europe and 8.3% in South America partially offset the decline, while North American deliveries fell 3.1%.
The German group’s global battery-electric vehicle deliveries decreased 5.8% to 438,500, despite an 8.4% increase in Europe. Volkswagen said its European electric-vehicle order book had grown by more than 50% since the end of 2025, with its recently introduced electric urban models receiving more than 54,000 orders.
