Toyota’s EV sales more than doubled in a year, but gas cars are getting crushed in China — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Toyota and Lexus sold 309,766 battery EVs globally through September 2026, up 127.4% from the same period in 2025, with every month except January (+87.5%) more than doubling year over year.
- Toyota global sales fell 2.2% in September to 860,107 vehicles — a third straight monthly decline — and nine-month volume slipped 3.4% to 7.51 million, leaving Japan (1.19 million) ahead of China (just over 1.05 million).
- Toyota China sales plunged nearly 20% in September, an eighth consecutive monthly drop, with nine-month China volume down 18.9%; the company blamed a weak overall market partly on rising gasoline prices that hit gasoline and hybrid demand especially hard.
- Toyota refreshed its first-generation electric SUVs — the bZ4X (bZ in the U.S.) and the RZ — and added the C-HR+ (C-HR in the U.S.), bZ4X Touring (bZ Woodland) and Urban Cruiser, while Lexus introduced the ES EV and both brands will add a three-row electric SUV.
- bZ4X ranked as the world's 20th best-selling EV through August with nearly 100,000 units sold, according to Cleantechnica data.
- Nikkei reported in August that Toyota plans to build a new Lexus electric SUV in China rather than Japan, with production starting at Lexus' new Shanghai plant next fall; the model will use gigacasting to cut costs and speed production.
- Volkswagen Group CFO and COO Arno Antilitz said the company "must act quickly and decisively" after third-quarter China sales fell 38% to 405,800 units, and the group plans to use China-developed technology in next-gen EVs sold overseas.
Why it matters: Toyota's EV surge has not offset its China contraction: 309,766 BEVs sold through September against 7.51 million total vehicles and China sales down 18.9%. Toyota's response is to localize — moving Lexus EV production to Shanghai next fall using gigacasting to cut costs.
Ask SkimNews
