This massive production milestone came just 88 years since the first Toyota rolled off the line in 1958.
In what has perhaps been one of the best ways to cap off yet another record-breaking sales year, Toyota has recently announced that it has made its 300 millionth car globally this past September.
Yes, you read that right, there has since been 300,000,000 Toyotas made since the first Model G1 truck rolled off the Automotive Production Division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (later known as Toyota Industries Corporation) back in August 1935. And just as a fun little aside, Toyota still actually makes those automatic looms to this very day.
Anyway getting back to the main story at hand, of this cumulative global production total of 300 million cars, 180.52 million of them produced domestically in Japan, while 119.6 million were manufactured abroad. There are currently 67 factories around the world that has Toyota cars rolling out of its production line, with a staggering three right here in Malaysia: Bukit Raja, Shah Alam and Perodua’s Rawang plant.
As for the model with the highest total production meanwhile, it would not at all be surprising for that to be the Corolla. The single best-selling nameplate in the world has, according to Toyota, achieved a cumulative global production of 53.339 million as of the end of September 2023, with that staggering number only set to increase further still as it continues to consistently occupy the podium places of the global sales chart to this very day.
Do note however that occupying the podium place does not mean that the Corolla is the best-selling car in the world today, as that honour for the past two years has instead gone to its RAV4 SUV sibling instead, which incidentally last year was also the only single model to breach the million-unit sales mark.
To that end too, it does mean that last year, nearly 1 in 10 Toyotas sold worldwide was a RAV4 SUV. And yes, it should also go without saying that the Japanese automaker is still very much the world’s best selling automaker, when the 10.5 million units produced by them were totalled up for 2022.
Speaking more about this momentous production milestone, Toyota Chairman and Master Driver Akio Toyoda stated: “Kiichiro Toyoda said, ‘Carmaking is something everyone does together.’ I think this number of 300 million stands as proof of all the hard work, every day, of our colleagues at Toyota, our suppliers and dealers, and all the many other stakeholders, as well as all those who came before us. This history did not just start when they built the first car. The founding members repeatedly tried and failed, continually building prototypes, and their efforts led to the Toyota of today. Toyota has faced danger time and again to this point. Each time, what has saved us are the customers who love Toyota cars.
“I think the number of cars tells the stories of our customers, and the customers who have chosen Toyota cars to be their partners through their own stories are what allow us to continue making cars to this day. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. I love cars, too, and we will carry on making cars, one by one and with care, along with all our car-loving colleagues,” he continued.
President Koji Sato meanwhile expressed his gratitude, saying: “I want to offer my heartfelt gratitude to the customers who have chosen Toyota cars, and to those who have built each car with heart and soul, as well as to the suppliers and dealers who have delivered them with care, and to all our other stakeholders.”
He then went on to acknowledge the resilience of Toyota’s workforce: “I believe that this number of 300 million units could only have been achieved with the unending effort of colleagues across the company, from part and vehicle planning and design, to production, logistics, sales, and service, along with all those working to support each step. All our colleagues have overcome countless challenges.”
