Toyota's secret weapon to fight off Chinese rivals BYD, Geely, XPeng and Chery: The staggering number of Toyota cars on global roads revealed, and why it is crucial to brand longevity in Australia | Analysis

Irrespective of all the hype surrounding new Chinese car brands on the global car market, there’s one figure which proves they still have a long way to go to attain global supremacy.

150 million. That’s how many Toyota cars are still on the world's roads today, according to the brand, a figure that it wants you to know and one that all but certainly puts it miles ahead of the competition.

It’s a strength the world’s biggest car brand plans on playing to as it navigates an increasingly precarious global new car market that is being undermined by new and more affordable Chinese rivals, the transition to electrification and rising protectionism in the form of US tariffs.

In Toyota's latest earning results for the March quarter, in which it recorded stronger revenues but lower operating incomes compared to the previous year, CFO Yoichi Miyazaki said sustained investment in its after-sales services would ensure the brand's long-term profitability.

“Even as we made comprehensive investments for the future and continued to strengthen our foundations, efforts such as price revisions and the expansion of value chain earnings enabled us to sustain a high level of profit,” said Miyazaki.

Essentially, through improving customer support for parts and accessories, rolling out its Connected Services program to more models and expanding its insurance and financing options, Toyota believes it can bolster its profits in a more challenging market.

In Australia, for example, Connected Services now comes standard on most new Toyota models, which includes an SOS Emergency Call switch and an Automatic Collision Notification that automatically alerts emergency services in the case of an accident.

Similar to a Netflix subscription, customers can upgrade to Toyota Connect+ for $9.95 a month, which adds Stolen Vehicle Tracking, or to Multimedia Connect for $12.50 a month, which adds voice assistance among other improved multimedia functions.

Even with the growing emphasis on after-sales services, Toyota Motor Corporation still sold 10,821,480 units last year (including Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino), which, despite a considerable decrease in the Japanese and Chinese markets, included a 0.5 per cent increase in total overseas sales.

Toyota maintained a comfortable lead over VW Group, the world’s second largest vehicle manufacturer, which sold nine million units during the same period, a decline of 3.5 per cent compared to 2023.

The brand which will be most on Toyota's radar, though, is BYD, which grew its total sales to 4.2 million in 2024 – a staggering 41 per cent increase on the previous year.

Toyota might be able to breathe a little easier knowing that the vast majority of the brand’s sales remain concentrated in China, and in overseas markets where it is expanding, establishing after-sales services remains more of a challenge.

In Australia, as well as Europe, BYD has taken a more hybrid approach, operating some of its own parts and service centres but still depending significantly on partnerships with local automotive chains such as mycar Tyre and Auto to pick up shortfalls.

BYD itself is not locally distributed through its Chinese parent company, either. Rather, its cars are sold through Australian distributor EVDirect.

So far this hasn’t appeared to be a setback as BYD grew its local sales by 103.3 per cent in April compared to the same period last year.

But as BYD inevitably gets bigger, Toyota will be banking on cracks emerging in its growth strategy and buyers favouring Toyota's tried-and-tested reputation, as well as its industry-leading national dealer and after-sales footprint, above all else.