ChinaAutoInfo

Toyota Motor Corporation released data on Wednesday showing that although its global sales increased for the second consecutive month driven by robust demand in the US and Chinese markets, the company's global production declined for the tenth consecutive month in November.

In November, the world's largest automaker produced a total of 869,230 vehicles globally, a decrease of 6.2% compared to the same period last year, with the decline widening from 0.8% in October.

Specifically, Toyota's production in the United States fell by 11.8%, recovering slowly, even though the Grand Highlander and Lexus TX SUV models resumed production at the end of October after a four-month halt.

The production in the Chinese market decreased by 1.6%, but it was better than the previous month's 9% decline, thanks to increased sales of Toyota's Granvia and Sienna minivans and the electric sedan bZ3, co-developed with BYD, in China. Notably, facing the rise of BYD and other Chinese brands, Toyota has decided to establish a standalone factory in Shanghai, according to a report by Nikkei News on Monday, and will start producing electric vehicles for its Lexus luxury brand from around 2027.

In Japan, Toyota's production fell by 9.3%, with Japan accounting for about one-third of Toyota's global production. Part of the reason for the production decline was the two-day suspension of operations at its Fuji松 and Yoshiwara plants.

Nevertheless, Toyota's global sales increased by 1.7% for the second consecutive month, reaching a new record of 920,569 vehicles in November.

From January to November this year, Toyota's global production was approximately 8.75 million vehicles, a decrease of 5.2% compared to the same period last year, while global sales decreased by 1.2%.

The aforementioned production and sales data include vehicles from Toyota's Lexus brand but exclude data from group companies Hino and Daihatsu.