10,536,807. That’s how many cars Toyota sold last year, including models from its luxury division, Lexus. Demand rose by 3.7 percent in 2025, allowing the Japanese automotive juggernaut to claim the sales crown for the sixth consecutive year. While bigger sales numbers are generally seen as a positive, maximizing volume isn’t necessarily the ultimate goal automakers pursue. A company can make more money selling fewer vehicles if profit margins are higher.

 

Toyota’s newly appointed CEO, Kenta Kon, is looking for ways to put the company in better shape by identifying lingering issues that need to be solved. After visiting R&D centers, he noticed that engineers may be stretched too thin across a vast array of models and derivatives. The head of the world’s largest carmaker suggests the sprawling portfolio could benefit from some trimming: