Toyota sales fall for second month in March on Middle East slump, RAV4 model change

TOKYO: Toyota Motor said on Monday global vehicle sales fell for a second successive month in March, as a sharp drop in the Middle East and a model changeover for its popular RAV4 sport utility vehicle weighed on deliveries.

Global sales shrank 7.3% from the same month a year earlier to 897,871 vehicles, with overseas sales down 7.2% and those in Japan falling 7.8%.

Toyota’s figures include its luxury Lexus brand.

By region, sales in the Middle East plunged by nearly a third in March, while they fell 8.5% in the United States and 8.0% in China.

The Middle East, which is a relatively small market for Toyota, reported sales of almost 34,000 vehicles in March.

Toyota did not give a reason for the sharp decline in the region’s sales.

Other automakers have said car demand in the Middle East weakened as the US-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and wider economic activity.

Toyota said underlying demand remained steady overall but sales were hit as it shifted production from the old RAV4 to a new version of the model, which is one of its best-selling ones globally.

Global production rose 2.1% in March from a year earlier, climbing 4.9% in the US and 7.7% in China.

It dropped 3.3% in Japan.

Toyota was the world’s top-selling automaker for a sixth consecutive year in 2025, Reuters calculations showed.