Toyota, the self styled world’s largest car manufacturer, experienced a setback in sales across crucial markets such as China and its home base of Japan. Globally, new car sales dipped by 7 percent during the trading period in February. Notably, in China, sales plummeted by 36 percent, attributed partly to the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday occurring in February and intensified competition from local car manufacturers offering aggressive price cuts.

In February, Toyota experienced a 16 percent surge in U.S. sales and a 14 percent increase in European sales, but faced a significant decline of one-third in Japan. This drop in domestic sales was attributed to production stoppages at Daihatsu, which manufactures some Toyota vehicles, and the reputational damage from a scandal.

Daihatsu brand vehicles are not included in Toyota’s global sales count. Nearly a year ago, the Toyota owned small-car entity admitted to manipulating collision safety tests. Additionally, Toyota saw double-digit declines in sales in Indonesia and Thailand.

Approximately 40 percent of Toyota’s vehicles sold in February were gasoline-electric hybrids. Global sales figures encompass both Toyota brand and Lexus vehicles. However, Daihatsu’s separate sales figures revealed a steep 66 percent decline in February.

Toyota’s global output for February decreased by 2.6 percent to 737,178 vehicles.