The Japanese automotive giant saw its full-year 2021 deliveries rise 10.1 percent to 10.496 million vehicles. In contrast, the world’s number two carmaker, the Volkswagen Group saw its numbers decline 4.5 percent to 8.882 million units as the semi-conductor shortage caused delays in deliveries.

“Being number one has never been Toyota’s focus, and we see our sales performance as the collective result of each individual customer’s decision to support our brands,” spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said. “Our company’s goal is to be the best brand for safety and quality.”

For the most part of 2021, Toyota gained on rivals worldwide as it managed to avoid lengthy production shutdowns by carefully managing microchip procurement and navigating supply chain bottlenecks. Toyota credited stockpiling early in the crisis and close communication with suppliers for its edge.

It also helped propel Toyota ahead of General Motors to clinch the U.S. sales grown in 2021—the first time in nine decades that GM didn’t top the U.S. best-seller list.

Toyota’s strong results for 2021, however, don’t necessarily point to a rosy future. The carmaker started the current fiscal year targeting a global production of 9.3 million vehicles for both the Toyota and Lexus brands. However, since the middle of last year, Toyota finally began to feel the pinch of the global slowdown and joined rivals in pulling back output. This month, Toyota warned it would miss its revised fiscal-year production target of 9 million units.

From January to December 2021, Toyota produced a total of 10.076 million vehicles—a 9.4 percent increase over 2020 when factories and dealers were hammered by pandemic-related lockdowns. Closer to home, Toyota Motor Philippines produced a total of 48,752 units—a 38.4 percent increase from 2020.

For comparison, Volkswagen-brand passenger cars notched 4.897 million in sales last year, while Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles chipped in another 359,900 vehicles.

Hybrid pioneer Toyota also sold a record number of electrified vehicles in 2021 – to the tune of 2.621 million units, including hybrids, battery electrics, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, when it came to EVs, Toyota sold only 14,407 units. This figure is a four-fold increase compared to 2020.