Ranked: The World’s Biggest Carmakers (2020–2025)
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Key Takeaways
- Toyota and Volkswagen remained the world’s two biggest carmakers by global vehicle sales between 2020 and 2025.
- Chinese brands climbed rapidly, with BYD jumping into the global top 10 and Geely also moving higher.
- Several established automakers, including Honda, Nissan, and Renault, slipped down the rankings as competition intensified.
The global auto industry is undergoing one of its biggest competitive shifts in decades. While Toyota and Volkswagen continue to lead worldwide sales, Chinese manufacturers have rapidly climbed the rankings as several established brands from Japan and Europe lose ground.
This graphic ranks the world’s 15 largest carmakers by vehicle sales from 2020 to 2025 using annual data from F&I Tools, highlighting which companies have gained—and lost—ground over the past five years.
Toyota and Volkswagen Hold the Top Spots
With over 11 million sales in 2025, Toyota finished the year as the world’s top carmaker once more. Throughout the 2020s, the Japanese auto group has topped global rankings, followed by Volkswagen, which neared 9 million sales in 2025. These firms are also the largest companies in Japan and Europe, respectively.
Other Japanese firms have struggled more in recent years. Honda slipped from fifth place in 2020 to eighth in 2025, while Nissan fell from seventh to tenth over the same period.
| Car Company | 2020 Rank (# of vehicles sold) |
Rank (2025) (# of vehicles sold) |
Change in Rank (2020-2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Toyota |
1 | 1 | – |
 VW |
2 | 2 | – |
 Hyundai Kia |
4 | 3 | ↑ 1 |
 GM |
3 | 4 | ↓ 1 |
 Stellantis |
— | 5 | New (merger) |
| Ford |
6 | 6 | – |
 BYD |
— | 7 | New |
| Honda |
5 | 8 | ↓ 3 |
| Suzuki |
13 | 9 | ↑ 4 |
| Nissan |
7 | 10 | ↓ 3 |
| Geely |
14 | 11 | ↑ 3 |
| Changan |
— | 12 | New |
| BMW |
11 | 13 | ↓ 2 |
 Renault |
9 | 14 | ↓ 5 |
| Mercedes |
12 | 15 | ↓ 3 |
In Europe, the post-pandemic period has also been difficult. Mercedes-Benz and Renault both saw lower sales in 2025 compared to 2020, while BMW slipped two positions in the rankings.
Some European and American firms have combined to maintain competitiveness. Fiat-Chrysler, which previously brought together a major Italian and American firm, merged with French rival PSA Group to form Stellantis in 2021. Stellantis finished 2025 as the world’s fifth-largest car firm, with 5.6 million vehicles sold.
The Rise of BYD
China has become a new hub for global car brands. In contrast to the struggles faced by legacy automakers in Europe and Japan, Chinese companies like BYD and Geely have prospered since 2020.
After failing to crack the top 15 until 2023, BYD (short for “Build Your Dreams”) burst onto the scene in 2024 with over 4.1 million global car sales.
The company has become a major player in the electric vehicle segment, far outselling better-known brands like Tesla despite virtually zero U.S. presence. Similarly to BYD, Geely has made inroads around the world, more than doubling its global sales from 1.3 million in 2020 to over 3 million in 2025.
The Big Three Abroad
Chrysler aside, America’s own legacy carmakers have struggled to grow their global market share, particularly against lower-cost foreign competitors.
General Motors (GM), the top carmaker by U.S. sales, sold half a million fewer units in 2025 than in 2020. Meanwhile, Ford increased sales by roughly 450,000 units over the same period.
By comparison, Japanese carmaker Suzuki more than doubled its sales, from nearly 1.5 million in 2020 to nearly 3.3 million in 2025.
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