Global sales — including that of subsidiaries Hino Motors Ltd and Daihatsu Motor Co — rose 12% from a year earlier to 986,262 units, the most ever for the month of November, the company said Wednesday. Worldwide production reached an all-time high at 1,067,446 units.
The world’s biggest carmaker has been making and selling an unprecedented number of automobiles throughout the year, further securing its dominance with hybrid cars as it pushes forward with ambitious plans to mass produce electric vehicles and catch up with Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc and China’s BYD Co.
Last week, Toyota was dragged into a growing scandal after an investigation found that Daihatsu had manipulated collision safety data dating as far back as 1989. Daihatsu will suspend operations through January and compensate its partners for the losses they incur, it said this week.
Toyota suffered a different scandal last year with its other major subsidiary, Hino, over falsified emissions data.
It’s not clear yet how much the latest scandal will cost, in terms of output, money and customer trust. Daihatsu supplies cars and parts to Mazda Motor Corp, Subaru Corp and a number of other major brands.
Third-party investigators warned that numerous Toyota and Daihatsu brand cars will need to undergo safety inspections again to become certified properly, and that several models could be ordered off the road.
Japanese carmakers have been plagued by recalls of late.
More than 15 million cars have been recalled worldwide due to a faulty fuel pump supplied by Denso Co, according to data compiled by Kyodo News. This includes vehicles branded and sold by Toyota and Honda Motor Co.
In July, Nissan Motor Co recalled almost 1.4 million cars across the US, Europe and Japan due to several issues, including vehicles suddenly accelerating after exiting cruise control and a short circuit that can cause motors to stop while driving.
Meanwhile, as BYD is set to overtake Tesla as the world’s best-selling EV maker, hybrids are becoming increasingly dominant in Japan.
They’re expected to overtake all other powertrains, including combustion and diesel engines, in registered passenger vehicle sales by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, and comprise more than half sometime in 2024.