Toyota retained its title as the world's number 1 automobile manufacturer with 11.2 million vehicles sold in 2023, under the Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino brands.
But this year, victory has a special taste for the group's leaders.
The Japanese manufacturer has just announced the cessation of shipments of ten diesel models, whose engines produced by its subsidiary Toyota Industries have been irregularly certified.
Hino brand trucks and buses were also affected by these “irregularities”.
The affair comes after another scandal, this time linked to the falsification of crash test results for small Daihatsu cars, production of which had to be stopped last December.
“
I am ashamed to admit that such situations have occurred
,” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said Tuesday.
Read alsoToyota in turmoil due to rigged Diesel engine certification test scandal
“
Regaining the trust of our customers will take time
,” concluded the grandson of the founder of Toyota, who expressed his “
deep apologies
” for the scandals affecting his subsidiaries.
The group is slowly beginning its shift towards electric.
Toyota has been focusing on non-rechargeable hybrids for twenty-five years, a technology in which it is the world leader.
On the other hand, it sold less than 1% (104,018 units) of 100% electric vehicles, the increase in power of which is now included in European regulations.
In Europe, Toyota sold 1.17 million vehicles last year, including 819,000 “electrified”, all non-rechargeable hybrids and sales of which will have to stop in 2035 on the Old Continent.
In France, the only country where the Yaris Cross is produced, Toyota has sold 120,000 vehicles under its brand, which places it fourth.