The Japanese automotive giant is facing serious turmoil in the Chinese market, where sales have recorded a staggering decline of more than twenty-five percent over the six-month period from April to September 2026. But why is this happening?
Asia’s industrial landscape is being reshaped at a rapid pace, while traditional manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges. During the period under review, the Japanese company sold just 684,903 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the country, marking a significant decline from the 914,342 units sold a year earlier.
The negative trend is also confirmed by the September figures, when dealers sold 127,678 vehicles, marking a year-on-year decline of nearly twenty percent. This latest monthly contraction has become the eighth consecutive negative result, demonstrating a lasting structural crisis rather than a temporary market anomaly.
Production capacity in the country is inevitably following the downward trajectory of demand, with output being scaled back in line with market realities. In September, local plants assembled 126,738 vehicles, representing a decline of nearly eighteen percent, while total output for the six-month period reached 663,079 vehicles, compared with 803,762 the previous year.
The main factors behind this technological and commercial lag lie in the dynamics of the local market and the pricing policies of competitors. Growing pressure from domestic manufacturers, focused entirely on advanced electric vehicles, is successfully capturing key price segments. Rising fuel costs and changing consumer habits are further cooling interest in conventional internal-combustion engines and hybrid powertrains.
On a global scale, the results also reflect a slight cooling, with the company’s total sales in September falling to 860,107 vehicles, while global production declined by more than three percent. The geographical breakdown, however, reveals significant differences, as the markets in the United States and Japan posted growth of more than eight percent and nearly two percent, respectively, while regions such as the Middle East recorded a sharp contraction.