Toyota retains world's biggest car seller spot

Toyota Motor Co announced on Friday about its vehicle sales that increased by 10.1 per cent last year, making it the world's biggest car manufacturer for the second time in a row. The recent sales figure has put the Japanese automaker further ahead of its rival, Volkswagen. Toyota informed it sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2021, including those by affiliates Daihatsu Motors and Hino Motors.

Compared to Toyota, Volkswagen sold 8.9 million vehicles last year, making it the automaker's lowest sales figures in a decade. It is also 5 per cent lower than the sales it made in 2020. While the pandemic and semiconductor shortage continue to plague the automotive industry, Volkswagen stated chip crisis situation will remain volatile in the first half of this year.

Though Toyota's 2021 sales give the company a positive beginning, it seems that it might get difficult to continue the momentum in the current year. An earlier report had stated an announcement from the company that it will halt vehicle production further in Japan this month due to the increasing Covid-19 cases among autoworkers. This is an additional blow to the automaker as the global chip crisis is far from over yet. A company spokesperson had conveyed the break will cut planned production this month by 65,000 vehicles, 18,000 more than it announced earlier.

Car companies across the industry have been forced to cut output because of the shortage of semiconductors and the pandemic leading to a major disruption in supply chains. However, Toyota had said efforts are being made to compensate for lost production in February. The automaker had also stated last week that its annual target to produce 9 million vehicles might remain unachievable as it does not have enough chips.

(With inputs from Reuters)