Toyota's record sales run extends to 7th month on US, China

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. manufactured and sold a record number of cars in July, stretching the carmaker's streak to a seventh consecutive month, on strong demand in the US and China despite global trade uncertainties.

Toyota's worldwide sales - which includes subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd. - rose 4% from a year earlier to 963,796 units, the company said Thursday.

While domestic sales dropped 2%, there was a 6% jump in markets outside of Japan.

Toyota and Lexus brand sales in North America were particularly strong, with demand for trucks, SUVs and gas-electric hybrid models leading to a 20% jump. Sales in China rose 5.7%.

The carmaker's production has also climbed.

Global output was up 2.6% to 947,943 units in July, with a domestic slump overshadowed by an increase elsewhere.

Toyota has seen a sales boom in 2025 on strong demand for hybrids and a rush by consumers in the earlier part of the year to buy vehicles ahead of President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported cars and parts.

Japanese cars now incur a 15% duty on imports to the US, a reprieve from the additional 25% rate they had faced, though still a substantial headwind for the industry's top brands.

Earlier this month, Toyota lowered its annual profit guidance as it warned of a ¥1.4 trillion (US$9.5 billion or RM40.06bil) hit to its bottom line from Trump's tariffs.

It now sees ¥3.2 trillion in operating income for the fiscal year ending in March 2026, down from its initial forecast of ¥3.8 trillion.

Beyond the trade uncertainties, and despite a bump in the popularity of hybrids, Toyota and other legacy Japanese makers face intensifying competition from the high-tech, market-leading electric models offered by the likes of China's BYD Co. and Elon Musk's Tesla Inc.