Toyota tops global sales in 2014 but VW could usurp crown in 2015

Toyota Motor Corp, which sold a total of 10.23 million units worldwide (up 3 percent) in 2014, has projected a drop in annual vehicle sales, following a slowing down of demand in Japan, Indonesia and other key markets.

Global sales of the Japanese major, which revealed its sales and production figures yesterday, are slated to fall 1 percent to 10.15 million units including sales from subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino. This drop in sales is likely to see rival Volkswagen, which sold 10.14 million units last year, usurp the global No. 1 position this year.

As per a Reuters report, chief executive Akio Toyoda seems to be keen on steering the company through measured, profitable growth rather than chase volumes, especially after getting burned by a capacity glut in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Toyota, which is the world’s biggest automaker, has not forecast a drop in annual vehicle sales since at least 2000. This excludes a mid-year revision in 2011, when natural disasters temporarily halted production. The company did not provide initial forecasts for 2009 amid uncertainty during the financial crisis.

CEO Toyoda has declared a three-year freeze on building new factories through the financial year to March 2016 to focus on becoming leaner and more profitable, even as Toyota took the top sales spot back from General Motors in 2012. In China, the world’s biggest automobile market, Toyota expects sales to halve in 2015 after it fell short of its sales target in 2014.

China, however, was a big contributor to Volkswagen’s global sales (up 4.2 percent), with sales of 3.69 million units and posting a growth of 11.3 percent over 2013. The Volkswagen Group  aggressive expansion plans under its Strategy 2018, which aims to see it notch 14 percent growth over 4 years and also introduce new cars like the A6L, new Fabia and Superb Sedan in China this year, could see it achieve its avowed goal of overtaking Toyota in 2015.