Toyota World's 1st to Top 10 M. Units in Annual Sales

Nagoya, April 23 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> has become the world's first automaker to exceed 10 million units in group annual sales, it was learned Wednesday. Global sales at the Toyota group, including Daihatsu Motor Co. <7262> and Hino Motors Ltd. <7205>, grew 4.5 pct from a year earlier to 10,133,000 units in the business year through March, according to data released by Toyota. The result topped the group's target of 10.1 million units. The Japanese automaker saw both domestic and overseas sales hit all-time highs. Domestic sales increased 3.9 pct to 2.4 million units, up for the third straight year, partly thanks to a demand surge ahead of the consumption tax hike this month. Overseas sales expanded 4.7 pct to 7.73 million units, with sales up in all regions except Oceania. Among emerging economies, China and Brazil showed double-digit growth in sales. U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles were up 4.8 pct at 2.22 million units, as the impact of cold weather proved to be temporary. Toyota group production rose 5.3 pct to 10.23 million units in the business year, with overseas output up 8.2 pct at a record 5.89 million units and domestic output up 1.6 pct at 4.34 million units. For calendar 2014, Toyota targets group sales of 10.32 million units, although it is uncertain whether its global sales will top 10 million units. To offset an expected fall in domestic demand following the tax hike, Toyota has released new Passo and Vitz compact car models with improved fuel efficiency. Possible economic slowdowns in China and other emerging economies are also a risk factor for the automaker. END