Toyota reported global deliveries of 5.02 million units Tuesday (a 1.5% drop compared to a year ago), falling just short of the 5.04 million deliveries reported by Volkswagen earlier in July.
According to Reuters, Toyota attributes the decline to slow sales in developing markets and domestic tax pressure on its small vehicles.
Volkswagen’s total global deliveries were also down compared to last year, but only by 0.5%, making the race for first place a struggle between two behemoths who are both working hard to mitigate declines.
Volkswagen’s biggest declines on a percentage basis were reported in Brazil (-29.6%) and Russia (-40.9%)–countries where the auto industry as a whole has struggled–but the largest decline in volume took place in Asia, where struggling sales in China cost the automaker roughly 70,000 units on a 3.9% decline.
Toyota will announce its full earnings report (which should include comprehensive global delivery data) next Tuesday.
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