Toyota regrets scandals amid soaring vehicle sales
Toyota expressed remorse about the recent scandals involving the company’s subsidiaries, while the firm reported a record-breaking 11.2 million vehicle sales across its brands last year
Toyota’s chairman expressed deep regret and shame over the recent scandals involving the company’s subsidiaries, as the firm announced a record 11.2 million vehicle sales across its brands last year.
The sales figure, an industry record, solidifies Toyota’s position as the world’s top-selling automaker for the fourth consecutive year. The impressive sales performance was attributed to a recovery in demand and easing chip shortages. However, the success was marred by scandals involving Daihatsu, which builds mini-vehicles and is embroiled in a rigged safety test scandal, and Hino, a truck and bus-maker also hit by a scandal related to rigged tests of its engines in Japan. These scandals led to a significant drop in volume sales for both subsidiaries.
The chairman, Akio Toyoda, took full responsibility for the misconduct, expressing deep apologies for the troubles and worries caused to customers and stakeholders. He acknowledged that the values and priorities that should have been upheld were lost sight of, and he pledged to lead a transformation to recover the trust of customers.
Despite the challenges, Toyota’s total vehicle sales figure saw a 7.2% increase from the previous year, surpassing Germany’s Volkswagen Group, which recorded a 12% increase in unit sales. South Korea’s Hyundai-Kia retained third place in 2023 with 7.3 million units sold, up 6.7%. In terms of market value, Elon Musk’s U.S. electric automaker Tesla remains number one ahead of the Japanese giant.
Toyota credited its performance to solid demand in each region and easing semiconductor shortages. The record-breaking figure combined sales for the Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino brands, surpassing Toyota’s own previous record of 10.7 million set in 2019, the year before it overtook Volkswagen. Volkswagen’s 2019 unit sales of 10.97 million was the previous industry record.
Source: AFP, Newsroom
