Toyota Motor Corporation has announced a record number of vehicle sales globally for the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, marking the close of the Japanese financial year.

As reported by Automotive News, the world’s biggest automaker – including its Lexus, Century and Daihatsu brands – sold 11,282,215 vehicles in the period, setting a new all-time sales record.

It’s the first annual sales increase for Toyota in two years, up 2.5 per cent on the 11,233,039 figure it posted in the 2024 financial year, and was led by its best-selling model and Australia’s favourite SUV, the Toyota RAV4.

The final figure is in line with previous forecasts of 11.3 million vehicle sales and includes a record result for Lexus, though Toyota did not provide a specific sales number for its global luxury brand.

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It also includes increased exports to all regions, up 3.0 per cent to 2.05 million vehicles, despite volatile tariffs in the US on both imported vehicles and parts used for repairs, maintenance and manufacturing.

Toyota has 11 factories in the US, and chairman Akio Toyoda has confirmed that US-built Camry, Tundra and Highlander (Kluger in Australia) vehicles will soon be sold in Japan.

Mr Toyoda also announced a restructure of the company’s brand divisions at the 2025 Tokyo motor show, including an expansion of Century as a global ultra-luxury brand positioned above Lexus.

As the company’s chairman – and great-grandson of founder Kiichiro Toyoda – Mr Toyoda oversees the group’s core brands, including Gazoo Racing (GR), Lexus and Daihatsu, which is no longer present in Australia.

The news comes as China overtook Japan to become the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer for the first time, with brands including BYD and Geely now firmly entrenched in the global top 10.

BYD is now the top-selling Chinese brand in Australia, having peaked at third place overall behind Toyota and second-placed Kia in March 2026.

Toyota’s Australia sales between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 – using VFACTS data supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) – totalled 226,374 vehicles.

That’s down on its record 241,296 result achieved in the 2024 calendar year, which it nearly matched in 2025 with 239,863 sales, a decline of 0.6 per cent.

Toyota has been Australia’s top-selling automotive brand every year since 2003, having first achieved the milestone in 1991.

The Japanese brand continues to lead the local sales race so far in 2026, well ahead of second-placed Mazda, though its 44,490 sales in the first three months of this year were down 23 per cent year-on-year.

A new-generation RAV4 has now started arriving in Australian showrooms, while the brand’s other sales mainstay, the HiLux, was heavily updated in December 2025. MORE: Explore the Toyota showroom