Toyota Upbeat After Unexpectedly Fast Recovery

A month ago, Toyota reported that despite one of the most challenging years on record, its June sales proved that the automaker wason an upward trajectoryand well on its way to recovering from the shutdown caused by the pandemic. In July 2020, that trend continued, as the brand's global sales and production recovered to 90 percent of the levels seen a year ago at the same time.

Although Toyota's global sales were down 12 percent relative to July 2019, this is still a recovery rate that is faster than expected, with earlier projections for July to September 2020 expected to return a drop in sales of 15 percent.

Toyota says that its recovery is mostly thanks to its performance in China (up by 19.1%), Europe (+14.5%), the US (down by 19%), and Japan (-17%). Whereas June's global production decreased by 24%, July's production was down by 10.2% year on year, another indication of the brand's positive recovery rate.

In July 2020, US production actually improved on July 2019's output by 19%. In North America, Toyota also highlighted especially strong sales of light trucks, theHighlander Hybrid, and theCamrysedan. The new Toyota Venza isn't even here yet, but it has alreadyproved to be a hitin Japan.