The carmaker saw sales totalling 837,969 vehicles in 2012, up 15,583 from 2011, including 792,359 Toyota and 45,610 Lexus vehicles.

As a result Toyota Motor Europe saw its European market share rise 0.3% to 4.5%.

‘Thanks to our new product launches in 2012, the good results of the Yaris, and of our hybrid vehicles line-up, we were able to continue growing despite the severe market conditions affecting Europe,’ said Didier Leroy, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe.

In Western Europe, Toyota and Lexus saw strong UK sales of 101,822 units, up 12% from 2011. In France, total sales remained stable in a market down 13%, leading to a market share growth of 0.4% to an estimated 3.3%.

In the Nordic Region, sales in Denmark rose 8% with sales of 17,966 units in 2012. The Baltic Region saw sales of 5,884 units, up 20% from the previous year.

In Central and Eastern Europe, despite signs of the markets’ slowdown in the last quarter, TME posted healthy gains in Russia and Ukraine with 27% (169,282 units) and 13% (15,676 units) sales increase over 2011 respectively. In Kazakhstan, Toyota and Lexus enjoyed record sales with 9,223 units.

With a 29% increase in 2012, hybrid vehicle sales were a particular strong point and achieved the milestone of topping culmulative sales of 500,000 units in December. 2012 was also the first year Toyota and Lexus sold more than 100,000 units during a calendar year.

Hybrid vehicle sales also contributed to more than 13% of total TME sales in 2012 with full-year sales of 109,478 units, including 83,699 Toyota and 25,779 Lexus hybrid vehicles.

In 2013, Toyota sales are expected to further increase thanks to a product offensive in the essential C- segment with the introduction of the new Auris, the new Auris Touring Sports, the new Verso, and the fourth-generation RAV 4.

Lexus is also expected to perform well in 2013, with the launch of the new Lexus IS, available for the first time in a hybrid variant. 

Mr Leroy said: ‘2013 will remain extremely challenging for the industry in Europe, but we are confident that both Toyota and Lexus will grow further in 2013 for the third consecutive year on the European continent. More importantly, this will be done in a sustainable and profitable way.’