Toyota points to high gas prices as sales in China plunge 30%, dragging down global results
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- Toyota posted global sales of 834,279 vehicles in May, down 7.2% year-over-year and marking the fourth consecutive month of declines.
- Toyota's China sales collapsed 31.7% to 102,299 units in May, with year-to-date volume down 15% to 579,419 vehicles, blamed on "rising gasoline prices" and a "challenging market environment."
- North American sales were nearly flat at 280,539 vehicles (-0.1%), with US volume specifically down 0.6% to 238,800 despite the new RAV4 rollout, though hybrids and EVs saw higher demand.
- Europe sales dipped 0.3% to 99,597 vehicles, while Toyota said demand "remained steady" in those key markets outside China.
- Toyota's bZ3X electric SUV, priced at about $15,000 (109,800 yuan), was China's top-selling joint-venture EV in April, its seventh straight month in that position, even as the company's ICE sales keep declining.
- Toyota's ICE sales in China have been steadily falling not just from higher gas prices but because buyers are shifting to more efficient battery-electric vehicles, the source's analysis argues, with cracks now visible in other regions like Southeast Asia.
- BYD, focused solely on plug-in and pure-electric tech, became the sixth-largest automaker globally last year; CEO Wang Chuanfu said earlier this month the company will "truly become the No. 1 automaker globally in terms of scale" within five years.
Why it matters: Toyota's 31.7% China crash marks four straight months of global declines, and the gas-prices explanation masks a structural shift: the company's own bZ3X has been China's top JV EV for seven months running, but Toyota's ICE volume is collapsing faster than its EV gains. With BYD already the sixth-largest automaker globally and targeting the No. 1 spot within five years, Toyota's "multi-pathway" hedge is losing traction in its second-largest market.
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