Toyota was up, VW down
Many manufacturers experienced production and delivery problems last year due to various industry disruptions. Some managed to overcome the crisis more effectively than others, giving them an edge over their competition. Toyota seems to have mastered every detail, which helped Japanese automaker maintain its global sales crown in 2021. Toyota just released its results for the last year. They are quite impressive considering the current chip shortage. Last year, the manufacturer delivered a total 10,495,548 vehicles worldwide. This is comfortably more than Volkswagen Group‘s 9,305,000 sales across all brands. These numbers are a healthy 10.1% increase for Toyota and a 4.5% drop in VAG’s deliveries.
Toyota released a press release explaining that the effects of the spreading of COVID-19 in 2020 were less severe than in 2020, which allowed it to increase its production and sales significantly last year. It is not possible for the automotive industry at this time to predict how parts supply trends will evolve over the next 12 months.
The Volkswagen Group also highlighted the number of electric cars it shipped last year. VAG almost doubled its BEV delivery year-on-year, to 452,900 units. This represents a 5.1 percent share of the total German conglomerate’s total last year. Although it is too early to award Toyota the title of the largest automaker in the world based on the number sold in 2021 (there are not yet final numbers from General Motors or Stellantis), it is a good indication that things are moving forward. Nevertheless, Toyota beating GM in the United States is a sign of the global state of affairs.
Stellantis US sales were down by 2 percent last year to around 1.8 million vehicles. This suggests that Toyota’s leadership in America is secure. We will, however, wait to see the complete numbers from GM or Stellantis before we can draw a final conclusion.