Why The World Was Obsessed With Toyota In 2022

Japanese marque Toyota is the biggest automobile manufacturer in the world. They have a diverse lineup with a product to suit any need and a long-standing history of practicality and usability. The latest rendition of Compare the Market’s most searched cars research shows that the public agrees, as it has been revealed that Toyota remains in the lead for the third year in a row.

Using Google Trends data, the Compare the Market has tracked Toyota’s supercharged win as the favored brand in almost twice as many countries as the second-place winner, BMW. The Japanese car manufacturer was the top search term in 69 out of 155 countries for 2022.

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Toyota Is The World’s Biggest Car Manufacturer

Toyota has lifted the ‘most searched for’ crown for the third consecutive time. That’s according to Compare the Market’s newest version of their yearly most searched cars report. For the third year running, the world-renowned manufacturer has secured its place as the most searched car brand across the entirety of the globe, based on Google Trends data.

The 2022 analysis reveals that Toyota was the most popular search of any car brand in 69 of the 155 countries included in the research, accounting for around 44.5% of total searches. That’s up from 31% of searches in 2021. It’s perhaps not surprising, given it was named the most reliable car brand of 2022 as well as the most trusted automotive brand in Australia and other major markets.

Toyota sells in all major markets, and it’s growing. Last year, they announced an additional $2.5 billion investment, for a total of $3.8 billion, in the company’s North Carolina manufacturing plant to produce batteries for hybrids and EVs. It’s expected to start production in 2025 and provide 2,100 new jobs in the local area. Toyota’s EV and hybrid technology have been one of the industry leaders, and in 2022 electrified vehicle sales of 448,854 represented a quarter of total sales for the brand.

Toyota In The USA

As for the country that loves Toyota the most online – that’s the United States. In 2022, the nation had a whopping average monthly search volume of 2,740,000. Yet, it wasn’t the nation’s favorite brand. Nissan led the charge in searches, and General Motors lead in sales for the first time in 3 years. Despite this Toyota’s flagship, the RAV4 became the best-selling SUV in the U.S. for 7th consecutive year.

Trailing behind in second and third place globally are BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Alongside Toyota, these brands have consistently held the podium for each of the five years Compare the Market has run their analysis. Of those, 2019 was the only year Toyota lost out on the top spot, with BMW securing an impressive 118 countries to its name.

The popularity of Toyota could easily owe itself to new products such as the GR Supra, GR86, and GR Corolla, two of the most exciting Japanese sports cars to come out last year. Cars such as the RAV4, Prius, and Land Cruiser also help the marque maintain interest. However, while the data shows that people in the US are searching for Toyota more than any other brand, this hasn’t directly translated into sales.

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Toyota Sales Figures Are A Major Driving Force

Compare the Market’s Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, says that the results of the study could be indicative of what people are driving on the roads. “Typically, search results give an indication of what people are interested in and may not always be aligned to what people are driving,” Taylor explains.

But in this case, it shows a clear parallel between what people are searching for and what people are actually driving. And Toyota tops in both!

In the USA, however, Toyota trailed General Motors as the last quarter of 2022 saw its sales dip significantly. This was due to ongoing supply chain issues and them not being able to meet demands. This was a positive charge for GM, but it could be skewed data purely due to Toyota not having the tools it needed to provide customers with an end product.

Nonetheless, Toyota continues to be the world’s foremost vehicle manufacturer. When they are back up to full production capacity, it’s likely that those search hits could turn into sales, only time will tell. 45% of the countries in the report saw Toyota as their top search. The world’s appreciation and interest in Toyota’s products continue to grow. One way or another, 2022 was still a success for Toyota, but going off the data, we’re sure 2023 will be an even bigger year.

If you keep all the numbers and reports aside, it all boils down to trust and consistency. Toyota has been quite good at it from the very beginning. And the long-term fruits are slowly starting to show in the Japanese auto giant’s favor. And we expect this to continue onto the all-electric and alternate fueled phase as well.

Sources: CompareTheMarket, Toyota, Toyota North America