Toyota sold a mere 18 EVs in its home market last month

Yes, just 18. Toyota sold 18 electric vehicles in its home market of Japan last month. And that includes its luxury Lexus brand.

Why did Toyota sell just 18 EVs in Japan in August?

Toyota, including Lexus, sold just over 17,000 electric vehicles globally in August. But, in Japan, Toyota’s home market, EV sales plummeted, with just 18 units sold.

The other 17,038 EVs were sold in overseas markets, like Europe, China, and North America. Through the first nine months of 2025, Toyota and Lexus have sold 117,031 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) worldwide and are on pace to top the roughly 140,000 sold throughout 2024.

In Japan, the story has been different so far this year. Toyota (including Lexus) sold 469 EVs through August, a far cry from the 2,038 it sold throughout the entire year of 2024.

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To be fair, it’s not just Toyota that’s struggling to sell electric cars in Japan. The country has failed to keep pace with China and, in many respects, the rest of the industry, due to a lack of government support and limited options compared to gas-powered hybrids.

Even BYD, which has seen explosive growth in most markets, has struggled to gain traction in Japan. Since launching its first vehicle in January 2023, BYD has sold just 5,300 vehicles through June of this year.

According to a new Bloomberg report, BYD is now offering discounts of up to ¥1 million ($6,700) on its vehicles. Including government subsidies, the discounts cut vehicle prices by up to 50%.

Toyota’s hybrid sales, on the other hand, are up nearly 10% this year in Japan, with over 603,600 hybrids sold. Outside of Japan, Toyota’s hybrid sales are up 14% with over 2.3 million models sold through August.

Electric vehicles are expected to account for only about 3.4% of new car sales in Japan this year, according to BloombergNEF, but further growth is anticipated.

Several automakers, including Honda and BYD, are launching more affordable EVs. BYD plans to launch its first electric kei car that will compete with the Nissan Sakura, Japan’s top-selling EV. It will also go up against the Honda N-ONE e, which launched on September 12, starting at just ¥2.7 million ($18,300).