A Toyota dealership photographed on November 19, 2025 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Toyota Motor Corporation will maintain its position as the world’s best-selling automaker with record sales of 10.5 million vehicles in 2025, the Japanese auto giant announced Thursday.
sale of toyota Luxury car Lexus rose by a narrow margin, increasing 3.7% from the previous year. volkswagen 9 million units for the Group and 7.27 million units for the Hyundai Motor Group.
Demand was particularly boosted by strong sales of hybrid vehicles such as the Prius and RAV4 models in the United States.
Toyota’s strength in the U.S. comes despite an aggressive tariff regime introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump, who initially imposed 25% tariffs on Japanese cars but later lowered them to 15%.
In the United States, Toyota and Lexus car sales rose 7.3% to 2.93 million units.
The results reflect the success of Toyota’s strategy to absorb tariff-related costs rather than pass them on to consumers through widespread price increases, while focusing on local production and other cost controls.
In November, the company estimated that it would incur a loss of 1.45 trillion yen ($9.7 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2026 due to U.S. tariffs, but also raised its full-year operating profit forecast, citing successful cost reductions and strong demand outside the United States.
Tariffs hit rivals
In another sign of global auto demand, Toyota rival Hyundai Motor Co. reported global sales in 2025 to rise more than 6% from a year earlier, supported by strong hybrid sales in the United States.
However, the US tariffs caused a loss of 4.1 trillion won to Korean automakers, and operating profit was affected by the tariffs and decreased by 19.5% from the previous year.
Last year, South Korea and the United States agreed to a trade deal that lowered tariffs on most South Korean products, including cars, to 15% starting in November.
But President Trump on Monday said the country’s Congress was not moving fast enough to implement the deal and threatened to restore tariffs to 25%. Hyundai shares fell nearly 5% on the news.
Hyundai’s U.S. sales are highly dependent on imports, and the company announced in September that by 2025, only about 40% of its U.S. sales will be produced domestically. The company hopes to increase local production at its Georgia facility to more than 80% by 2030.
Toyota, which relies on imports for only about one-fifth of its U.S. sales, is aggressively pursuing manufacturing expansion in the U.S. with a focus on hybrid vehicles.
Toyota Motor Corporation is scheduled to announce its third quarter financial results on February 6th. Analysts expect the company’s operating profit to rebound nearly 30% from a year ago, according to estimates compiled by Reuters.
Toyota stock soared 3% in Thursday trading.
