Toyota Motor said Monday that its global vehicle sales fell in May for the fourth month in a row, pressured by weaker demand in China and across the wider region.
The Japanese automaker said worldwide sales dropped 7.2% year on year to 834,279 vehicles. Overseas sales declined 9.6%, while sales in Japan rose 11.1%, helped by strong demand for models such as the RAV4 and bZ4X.
China remained a major drag, with sales falling 31.7% amid tough market conditions, including higher gasoline prices. Sales across the region dropped 38.6%. In the United States, Toyota’s largest market, sales slipped slightly by 0.6%.
Global production was also down, falling 5.5% from a year earlier. Lower output in the United States and Asia outweighed gains in Japan. Toyota’s figures include its luxury Lexus brand.
In the first five months of 2026, Toyota Motor’s total sales fell 3.1% to 4.46 million vehicles. Sales in Japan rose 3.7%, while overseas sales declined 4.7%. Sales of Toyota brand vehicles dropped 3.5% to 4.14 million units, with growth in Japan unable to offset weaker performance abroad.
Toyota brand production also slipped 0.9% during the same period to 4.53 million vehicles. Output in Japan edged up 0.5%, while production outside Japan fell 1.7%.
Last month, Toyota warned that profit for the current fiscal year, which began on April 1, could fall by 20%. The company pointed to uncertainty around costs and supply chains linked to the conflict in the region, even as strong demand for hybrid vehicles continues to support sales.
Toyota expects operating income of 3 trillion yen, about $19 billion, for the fiscal year ending in March 2027, down from 3.77 trillion yen in the previous fiscal year.
In 2025, Toyota kept its position as the world’s top-selling automaker for the sixth straight year, widening its lead over Germany’s Volkswagen Group. Including Daihatsu and Hino, Toyota’s global sales rose 4.6% to a record 11.3 million vehicles, while production increased 5.7% to 11.2 million units. Volkswagen Group, by comparison, saw sales fall 0.5% to 9 million vehicles.
