Toyota sales fall for second month in March on Middle East slump, RAV4 model change

TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor said on Monday global vehicle sales fell for a second successive month in March, as a sharp drop in the Middle East and a model changeover for its popular RAV4 sport utility vehicle weighed on deliveries.

• Global sales shrank 7.3% from the same month a year earlier to 897,871 vehicles, with overseas sales down 7.2% and those in Japan falling 7.8%. Toyota’s figures include its luxury Lexus brand.

• By region, sales in the Middle East plunged by nearly a third in March, while they fell 8.5% in the United States and 8.0% in China.

• The Middle East, which is a relatively small market for Toyota, reported sales of almost 34,000 vehicles in March. Toyota did not give a reason for the sharp decline in the region’s sales.

• Other automakers have said car demand in the Middle East weakened as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and wider economic activity.

• Toyota said underlying demand remained steady overall but sales were hit as it shifted production from the old RAV4 to a new version of the model, which is one of its best-selling ones globally.

• Global production rose 2.1% in March from a year earlier, climbing 4.9% in the U.S. and 7.7% in China. It dropped 3.3% in Japan.

• Toyota was the world’s top-selling automaker for a sixth consecutive year in 2025, Reuters calculations showed.

(Reporting by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)