Driving Sales: Toyota Declared the World’s Top-Selling Car Brand of 2023

When it comes to juggernaut auto brands, the Big Three U.S. brands Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis would be the first to come to mind. But when it comes to the global market, Japanese automaker Toyota reigns supreme as the best-selling car manufacturer in the world for 2023.

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It should be noted that the Toyota Group is also the parent company of several auto brands, such as Toyota, Lexus, and Daihatsu. With official sales data from each of these auto brands for global sales in 2023, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Toyota Group overtook the competition, particularly its German rival, Volkswagen. With an overall annual sales increase of 7.2% in 2023, Toyota has remained the top-selling car brand in the world for the fourth year in a row.

Global Sales for Toyota in 2023

North American Toyota Sales in 2023

There were 8,928,239 cars sold outside of Japan, with the United States being Toyota’s biggest single market with 2,617,033 cars sold in 2023, which was 7% greater than its sales in 2022.

Both sales in North America and internationally show that Lexus had a particularly spectacular year, showing an annual sales increase of 124% domestically, and 132% internationally as compared to sales in 2022. Lexus sales in Asia had grown by 113% with approximately 236,587 units sold, and by 229% in Japan with domestic sales at 94,647 units sold.

Global Sales Totals For Other Manufacturers

Trailing behind Toyota for second place was German manufacturer Volkswagen Group, with a reported 9.2 million cars according to Reuters.

Other major automakers like Hyundai/Kia/Genesis saw 7.32 million units sold globally. Nissan, another major Japanese auto brand, saw a total of 3,225,632 sold units worldwide. Meanwhile, American brands like General Motors are expected to unveil their global sales figures in the next few weeks. So the official standings for best-selling car manufacturers in the world are subject to change once the final results are in.