Middle East conflict affects production, Toyota’s sales decline again in May

Golden Ten Data reported on June 29 that, affected by the turmoil in the Middle East and intense market competition, Toyota recorded a sales decline for the fourth consecutive month. On Monday, Toyota announced that its global sales in May (including subsidiary Daihatsu Motor) fell by 7.4% year-on-year to 885,207 vehicles, while global production decreased by 5.8% to 857,765 vehicles. Although the U.S. and Iran have reached an agreement to end the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz is only gradually resuming navigation, and attacks on vessels continue to occur from time to time. This highlights that Toyota and other global automakers remain highly dependent on the region's logistics corridors and energy-intensive supply chains. For Toyota, which has long held the leading position in global sales, these risks are threatening the record profit levels achieved in the past fiscal year.