Toyota has retained its title as the world’s bestselling car manufacturer for the fourth year running. The Japanese car maker sold 10.15 million cars overall in the whole of 2015.
Although Toyota sold less cars last year than they did in 2014, the slowdown was predicted by the company’s management and sales were ultimately in line with forecasts made last year. Toyota managed 10.23 million car sales globally last year.
Toyota beats VW and GM
The 2015 figure of 10.15 million sales was enough to comfortably beat rival manufacturer Volkswagen, which came second with 9.93 million vehicles sold.
General Motors, which owns brands including Vauxhall, rounds up the top three with 9.8 million sales worldwide last year. The Nissan-Renault partnership was the world’s fourth largest car company last year with combined sales of 8.22 million, while Hyundai was fifth with 8.01 million sales globally.
During the first half of 2015, it was actually Volkswagen that held the lead for global car sales. In the second half of the year, however, Volkswagen were rocked by a diesel emissions scandal, also known as dieselgate, which disrupted sales.
Although Volkswagen still managed to be the bestselling car maker in Europe, they couldn’t prevent Toyota from taking the global accolade, an honour Toyota has consistently taken since 2012.
Toyota’s plans
2015 was a big year for Toyota as they introduced the first mainstream hydrogen-powered car to markets – the Mirai. It has recently gone on sale in the UK market priced from £66,000 before any low emission vehicle grant.
Looking ahead, Toyota is reportedly considering buying out fellow Japanese car maker Daihatsu. There have also recently been rumours that Toyota is considering a tie-up with Suzuki, another Japanese manufacturer, although both companies have denied this to be the case.