Foreign media: Latest statistics show that the global automotive industry's competitive landscape has undergone one of its most significant changes in recent years between 2020 and 2025. Although Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen have consistently ranked first and second in global sales for many years, Chinese automakers have rapidly risen to become a key force reshaping the industry's structure, while the rankings of some traditional Japanese and European automakers continue to decline.
In 2025, Toyota maintained its position as the world’s top seller with over 11 million vehicles sold, while Volkswagen recorded nearly 9 million units, ranking second. South Korea’s Hyundai-Kia climbed to third place, and the United States’ General Motors dropped to fourth. Stellantis, formed by the 2021 merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group, ranked fifth with annual sales of approximately 5.6 million units, followed by Ford in sixth place.
Chinese automakers stood out particularly. BYD made its debut in the global top ten, ranking seventh. Prior to 2023, BYD had not entered the top 15 globally, but after surpassing 4.1 million units in sales in 2024, it quickly rose to prominence, leveraging its strengths in new energy vehicles—its global sales have already significantly exceeded those of Tesla, despite having almost no presence in the U.S. market. Geely advanced from 14th place in 2020 to 11th in 2025, with global sales increasing from around 1.3 million to over 3 million units—a doubling of output. Changan Automobile also entered the global top 15 for the first time, ranking 12th, demonstrating the continuous enhancement of Chinese automotive brands' international competitiveness.
In contrast, several traditional automakers saw their rankings fall. Honda dropped from fifth to eighth, Nissan from seventh to tenth, Renault suffered the largest decline—from ninth to fourteenth—BMW fell two spots to thirteenth, and Mercedes-Benz dropped from twelfth to fifteenth.
U.S. automakers showed stable performance overall, but with limited growth. General Motors’ 2025 sales were about 500,000 units lower than in 2020, while Ford’s sales increased by roughly 450,000 units during the same period. Suzuki from Japan emerged as another surprise performer, with sales growing from nearly 1.5 million units in 2020 to nearly 3.3 million in 2025, jumping from 13th to 9th place.
The global automotive industry is accelerating toward a multipolar landscape. Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding their market share through advantages in new energy vehicles and global expansion, challenging the long-standing dominance of European and Japanese brands in the industry.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870049183399108/
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