TOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) – Toyota Motor sold a record 11.2 million vehicles in 2023, it said on Tuesday, taking the crown as the world's top-selling automaker for a fourth straight year.
The Japanese automaker reported a 7.2 per cent jump in global group sales last year, including those of truck unit Hino Motors and small-car maker Daihatsu, helped by record overseas sales of 8.9 million vehicles.
Second-ranked German rival Volkswagen Group earlier this month reported a 12pc rise in deliveries last year to 9.2 million cars, marking a post-pandemic recovery as supply chain bottlenecks eased.
Sales of Toyota's parent-only vehicles, which include those of its namesake and Lexus brands, hit a record of 10.3 million vehicles in 2023.
Gasoline-electric hybrids made up about a third of those. Battery electric vehicles accounted for less than 1pc.
BYD FORECASTS 86.5PC INCREASE IN NET PROFIT
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD had earlier said it expects net profit in 2023 to have risen by as much as 86.5pc on the previous year, buoyed by strong sales and cost cuts.
BYD forecast net profit for last year between 29 billion and 31 billion yuan ($4.04-4.32 billion), an increase of 74.46-86.49% from a year earlier, it said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing.
That growth will come in at a much slower pace than in 2022, when BYD posted a 446pc net profit surge to 16.6 billion yuan.
"Despite the fierce competition in the industry, the company has achieved significant improvement in profitability and demonstrated strong resilience," BYD said.
The results were achieved thanks to factors including its "rapid growth" of overseas sales, scale advantage and cost control ability in the supply chain, the Shenzhen-based company said.
In comparison, Tesla, BYD's biggest EV rival, reported a 19.4pc growth in net profit in 2023 to $15 billion.
In the last quarter of 2023, BYD became the top EV maker by sales, delivering 526,409 vehicles, beating Tesla, which handed over 484,507 cars.
For the whole of 2023, the company sold about 3.02 million vehicles, an increase of 61.9pc.
In January, BYD unveiled three battery EV models in Indonesia as it eyes the top market position in the segment in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
Other than automotive, BYD's business also includes sales of electronic components for smartphones.