TOKYO — Toyota sold 5 percent more vehicles in the first half compared with the same period a year earlier, helped by an easing of semiconductor supply constraints and stronger demand in Japan.
The company sold about 4.9 million vehicles globally in the six months through June, including its luxury Lexus brand, compared with about 4.7 million vehicles during the same period in 2022.
Toyota’s sales in Japan jumped 33 percent to 878,215 units in the period versus a year earlier, while U.S. sales slipped 0.7 percent to just over 1 million vehicles and those in Asia declined half a percent to about 1.5 million units.
In the month of June, global sales rose 10 percent to 898,947 units, benefiting from growing demand, including for electrified vehicles such as hybrids, in key markets such as the U.S. and Europe, the company said in a statement.
China sales in June posted their first monthly decline in three months, falling 13 percent to 174,548 vehicles. China sales were down 2.8 percent for January-June.
Global sales of hybrid electric vehicles grew 38 percent year-on-year to 292,131 units, accounting for just under a third of the total number of vehicles sold worldwide last month.
In June, Toyota sold 10,191 battery electric vehicles worldwide, including its Lexus brand, with about 5,000 of those sold in China. That brought the total number of battery-powered vehicles sold in the first half of 2023 to 46,171 units.