With Japanese OEMs having posted their 2023 sales today, the World’s Largest Automaker ranking is official. Toyota Group 1st, Volkswagen Group 2^nd , Hyundai Group 3^rd. The ranking is no surprise, at least not to folks who consistently track the output of global OEMs. As far as Dailykanban is concerned, we’ve called the 2023 results as early as February 2023. Well, not quite: The tight race for 2^nd place we predicted did not happen. Volkswagen received a new CEO, Oliver Blume, and with him in charge, the group got its act together.  After disappointing deliveries in the earlier months, Volkswagen Group finished the year with its output up nearly 12% YoY, some 2 million units behind Toyota Group, and some 2 million units ahead of #3 Hyundai Group.

Ichiban Toyota Group handily met and beat its 2023 forecast. At the beginning of the year, the Group predicted sales of 10.6 million units for the year, with the caveat that it could be 10% lower if the chip shortage would continue. It did not, and Toyota Group ended calendar 2023 with global deliveries of 11.2 million units sold, some 600,000 more than planned.

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