One more time, a new month brought no change in the rankings of World’s Largest Automakers, and with only 3 months to go, no change is expected.

At the top-ranked Toyota Group, sales suffered due to interruptions in the home market Japan (Prius recall, production suspensions of three models) and severe market conditions in China, along with a shift to new energy vehicles. 2024 cumulative Toyota sales were down 16.9% In Japan,  and 10.4% in China.

2^nd ranked Volkswagen is much more exposed to the severe China market. Roughly 1/3 of Volkswagen Group’s global sales are in China, where Volkswagen Group sales deteriorated by 10.2% from January through September 2024.

With 2024 YTD sales down only 1.6%, #3  Hyundai Group is the healthiest of the three world’s largest automakers.

Caveat: All sales data as reported by the respective automaker. Note that “sales”  can be an elastic term, some report hard registrations, some “sales to wholesale,” which can mean cars placed on dealer lots, or transferred to the OEM’s sales organization.