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Toyota extended its lead as the world's top-selling carmaker last year.

The Japanese giant said Friday (January 28) its vehicle sales rose just over 10%.

That number puts it even further ahead of its nearest rival Volkswagen.

Toyota said it sold 10.5 million units in 2021 - well above the 8.9 million delivered by VW in the same timeframe.

It is a positive outcome for the automaker, in a year where the health crisis affected production.

Carmakers have been forced to cut output due to a shortage of semiconductors.

Toyota has coped with the health crisis better than most, though.

That's largely due to its home market Japan and parts of Asia being less affected than Europe.

But the firm wasn't fully able to avoid global supply chain issues.

It's projected to miss its production target of 9 million vehicles in the business year that ends on March 31.

Toyota is due to release its third-quarter earnings in February.