Toyota retains its crown as world's biggest car seller in 2021

Toyota sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2021, a 10.1-per-cent jump from its sales in 2020 that sees the Japanese carmaker pulling farther ahead of its nearest rival Volkswagen.

Despite the supply bottlenecks for semiconductors and other pandemic repercussions, Toyota said on Friday that both global sales and production were up year-on-year.

That meant that Toyota retained its title as the world's biggest car seller. It knocked Volkswagen from the top position last year after the German car giant held the crown for five straight years.

Toyota Motor Co also includes small car specialist Daihatsu and commercial vehicle maker Hino Motors.

Volkswagen suffered a 4.5-per-cent drop in sales to 8.88 million vehicles last year amid the chip crisis and other supplier problems.