Toyota Motor Corporation sold 10.59 million vehicles globally last year, fewer than the 10.83 million delivered by German rival Volkswagen, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.
Separately, Nissan Motor Company said its global sales totalled 5.65 million vehicles last year, while Renault SA of France, which owns 43% of Nissan, recorded global sales of 3.9 million vehicles.
Racking the numbers
Nissan owns 34% of smaller Japanese rival Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, which sold 1.2 million vehicles last year.
READ: Volkswagen reports record global car sales in 2017
That adds up to 10.75 million vehicles, although that is not the official alliance tally.
The numbers released on Wednesday (Jan 30) underscore intense competition among the automakers.
US automaker General Motors Co. was the No. 1 selling automaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. Its sales have shrunk in recent years, and the Detroit-based automaker is no longer really a contender in what is turning out to be a three-way race.
Image: AFP
Nissan, Japan's second-biggest automaker, has recently been rocked by a scandal, after the arrest in November of Carlos Ghosn, the executive sent in by Renault to lead Nissan for two decades.
The allegations against him centre around financial misconduct, such as underreporting compensation from Nissan and having Nissan shoulder investment losses. Ghosn has said he is innocent.
Toyota's vehicle sales last year were up 2% from 2017; while Nissan's fell nearly 3%. Mitsubishi's was up 18% on-year, and Renault's sales were up 3%.