Toyota to Strengthen Position in Hungarian New Car Market

Toyota expects the new car market in Hungary to stagnate in 2025, but it is realistic to maintain its multi-year leadership by setting a new sales record and supporting this by repositioning the prices of its plug-in hybrid models, Toyota Central Europe Ltd., the company responsible for imports in Hungary, said in Budapest.

According to Country Manager Richárd László, the brand had a strong year in Hungary in 2024, with 18,123 new vehicles sold by dealerships, up 4.8 percent on the previous year. This gave the brand a 12.38% market share in the passenger car and light commercial vehicle segment.

Of these sales, 76.5% were hybrid, 17.1% petrol and 4.3 % diesel, while pure electric models (BEV) accounted for 0.5% and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) for 1.6%. The brand has a 14.12% share of the small car segment, making it the second best-selling brand. Last year, the 3,500 vehicles registered represented an increase of 13.7%.

The dealer network, which also sells certified used cars, sold 5,274 used Toyotas last year.

Richárd László expects the new car market to face a number of challenges in 2025. For example, supply is expected to shrink as a consequence of meeting European carbon emission targets, but potential manufacturer fines and a fall in carmaker profits will also push prices up.

The country manager made it clear that Toyota will not exit the small car segment, but will instead continue its transformation. He also pointed out that the weakening of European manufacturers and the rise of Chinese manufacturers are expected to continue, together with the emergence of new players in China.

Toyota sees increasing the share of hybrid models as a way to meet emissions standards, aiming to increase the share of hybrids to 90% of sales in the next period, while the BEV-PHEV mix will expand to 7%. According to the importer, PHEV sales are being held back by the disappearance of the green license plate for this category, to which the company is responding by rethinking its PHEV strategy and repositioning prices.