As major automotive groups have successively released their first-half performance reports, the highly anticipated global sales rankings have been officially unveiled. Japan's Toyota Motor Group (including Hino Motors and Daihatsu) achieved sales of 5.5449 million units in the first half of 2025, up 7% year-over-year, making it the only automaker to exceed 5 million units in sales and maintaining its position as the world's largest automaker. This marks Toyota's highest first-half sales record in three years, surpassing its previous record of 5.47 million units set in 2021.
Following Toyota, the second and third positions remained unchanged. Germany's Volkswagen Group recorded global sales of 4.4053 million units in the first half of 2025, up 1% year-over-year. The Volkswagen passenger car brand, serving as the group's sales backbone, delivered 2.32 million units in the first half of 2025, up 4.5% year-over-year. Additionally, Skoda increased 13.6% to 509,000 units, while Audi declined 5.9% to 780,000 units, Bentley fell 11%, and Porsche dropped 6%.
Ranked third, South Korea's Hyundai-Kia Group achieved half-year sales of 3.6542 million units, up 1.06% year-over-year. Fourth place went to General Motors, which surpassed Stellantis Group with global sales of 2.988 million units in the first half, up 6.7% year-over-year. This growth was primarily driven by the Chinese market, where GM has established joint ventures SAIC-GM-Wuling and SAIC-GM, comprising five brands: Wuling, Baojun, Buick, Chevrolet, and Cadillac. Sales in the Chinese market reached 890,000 units in the first half, up 9.4% year-over-year, with Buick growing 5.2%.
Stellantis experienced the largest decline among the top ten global automakers in the first half, falling 8% to 2.69 million units, causing it to be overtaken by General Motors and drop to fifth place. Stellantis' first-half 2025 financial report showed net revenue of 74.3 billion euros, down 13% year-over-year, primarily affected by declines in North America and Europe, partially offset by growth in South America. The company posted a net loss of 2.3 billion euros in the first half, compared to a net profit of 5.6 billion euros in the same period last year.
As China's largest automaker, BYD Company Limited achieved full-year sales of 2.146 million units in the first half of 2025, up 33.04% year-over-year, surpassing Honda and Nissan to jump to 7th place in global sales rankings. Honda Motor recorded global sales of 1.78 million units in the first half, down 5.09% year-over-year, while Nissan Motor fell out of the top ten with 1.655 million units, down 9.51% year-over-year.
Beyond BYD Company Limited, SAIC Group and Geely Holding also entered the top ten, both achieving double-digit growth with 2.0526 million units and 1.9317 million units respectively. Geely's multi-brand strategy has shown significant results, with clear positioning across different market segments. In the mainstream market, it has deployed Geely (including Galaxy), in the mid-to-high-end market it has positioned Lynk & Co, and in the premium market it has established Zeekr. In international markets, Geely Holding owns brands including Volvo, smart, Polestar, and Proton. Currently, Geely's products are exported to multiple countries and regions worldwide, with its international market share continuously expanding.
Three Japanese automakers - Honda, Suzuki, and Nissan - all experienced varying degrees of decline in first-half sales. Nissan fell out of the global top ten for the first time, with Honda's first-half sales declining 5.09% to 1.78 million units, being surpassed by BYD Company Limited and Geely. Nissan's sales fell 9.51% to 1.655 million units, marking its lowest level in 16 years.
Affected by Chinese electric vehicles, Southeast Asian markets where Japanese cars previously held over 70% market share are now seeing an influx of Chinese new energy vehicles. Eight Chinese automakers including BYD Company Limited and Great Wall have planned factory construction and electric vehicle production in Thailand, prompting Japanese automakers to begin contracting Southeast Asian capacity. Suzuki and Subaru have both announced closures of their Thai factories, Nissan plans to close partial operations of one Thai factory by September 2025 and consolidate production to a second facility, while Honda announced the integration of its Ayutthaya plant capacity to its Prachinburi plant in 2025.