Toyota Motor Corporation said that the group planned to sell 10.77 million vehicles worldwide in 2020, up slightly from the 10.72 million figure estimated for this year, as rival carmakers slow down.
Within the same period, overseas sales are expected to grow 2 percent to 8.50 million vehicles on the back of robust demand for its new models in China and Europe, offsetting a 4 percent fall in domestic sales to 2.26 million units.
Sales in the home market suffered from the impact of the consumption tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent in October this year.
Global sales, which include those of vehicles sold by its two subsidiaries, minicar-manufacturer Daihatsu Motor Co and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd, are on course to surpass the 10 million mark for the seventh straight year, according to the projections. The group would set a global sales record for the fourth straight year if the goal for 2020 is attained.
Toyota had placed third, behind Volkswagen AG and the alliance of Nissan Motor Corp, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, in global group sales rankings in the whole of 2018. But it climbed to second in the first half of 2019, replacing the three-way Japanese-Franco group.
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The tripartite alliance has struggled mainly due to sluggish global sales by Nissan, which has been rocked by the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn in November last year.
Germany’s Volkswagen kept the top spot but has seen sales fall from the same period the year before due to slowing demand in China, the world’s biggest auto market, amid prolonged trade frictions between the United States and China.
Toyota said the group also planned to raise its global production next year by 1 percent from 2019 levels to 10.90 million vehicles, even as it aims to manufacture 6.49 million units abroad, up 4 percent and 4.41 million in Japan, down 4 percent from the previous year’s projections.
The automaker plans to sell 2.31 million hybrids and other vehicles powered by electricity in 2020, up 20 percent from the year before.
Car manufacturers have also come under increased pressure to raise competitiveness as consumer demand shifts to autonomous, electric and connected vehicles, which require hefty investments and advanced technologies.
