Toyota's global sales fall in May

Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday that its global vehicle sales in May fell 7.2% to 834,279 units compared to a year earlier, marking a fourth consecutive month of decline. The world’s largest automaker by sales volume reported that overseas sales dropped 9.6% to 715,898 units, with sales in the United States edging down 0.6% to 238,800 units, nearly stagnant from the previous year. Sales in the Middle East plummeted 38.6% to 29,568 cars, while sales in China tumbled 31.7% to 102,299 vehicles. However, sales in Japan rose 11.1% to 118,381 units, supported by strong demand for new models such as the RAV4 and bZ4X. Meanwhile, global production fell 5.5% from a year earlier to 765,470 cars, recording its first decline in three months. Toyota’s overseas output dropped 9.4% to 514,882 vehicles, the first year-on-year decrease in three months, while domestic output increased 3.7% to 250,588 units, marking the first rise in seven months, aided by the launch of new models.