Sales, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino Motors, rose 4.6% to 11.3 million vehicles, the company said.

That far outstripped Volkswagen’s total of 8.98 million vehicles, which was down 0.5% from the year before.

The overall increase came despite flat sales for Toyota in China, a crucial market where it faces intensifying competition from local automakers including electric-car champion BYD.

US sales climbed 8% in spite of the 25% tariff on Japanese auto exports imposed by Washington between April and mid-September, when a 15% cap kicked in.

The US is a key market where Toyota generates almost a quarter of its sales. But of the 2.52 million vehicles it sold there in 2025, only 1.39 million were produced in the country.

Even so, last year it increased output by 10% at its factories in the US, where it produces its increasingly popular hybrid vehicles.

To keep exporting to the US on competitive terms, Japanese automakers have had to slash prices.

In early November, Toyota estimated the impact of US duties on its annual operating profit at around ¥1.45 trillion (US$9.5 billion).

Other Japanese automakers, meanwhile, are taking a hit.

Nissan, which is in serious financial difficulty, saw sales drop 4.4% to 3.2 million vehicles in 2025, with a 6.3% collapse in its flagship Chinese market.

Honda reported an almost 9% plunge in global sales, to 3.4 million vehicles.