Toyota’s global sales plateaued in November as lackluster demand coalesced with a pause in production at two plants.

Vehicle sales — including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino — totaled 984,348 units last month, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday, down 0.2% versus November 2023. Production declined 9.4% year-on-year to 966,921 units.

While Toyota remains the world’s biggest automaker, its business is feeling the strain of intense competition over hybrid gasoline-electric cars in the U.S. and locally made electric vehicles in China. Its hold on markets across Southeast Asia is also being steadily eroded by Chinese competitors.

More broadly, weaker demand for new cars globally this year was compounded by output cuts at Toyota caused by regulatory probes and recalls in Japan and abroad.

Output between January and November fell 7.3% in Japan and 15.2% in China, underscoring the rising competition in the world’s largest car market.

In China, production — meaning vehicles off the delivery line as opposed to end-consumer sales — declined 1.6% year-on-year last month as Toyota and other legacy auto brands, including General Motors and Volkswagen, found themselves left behind.

At home, meanwhile, the emergence of a new rival could be a threat to Toyota’s dominance, after Honda and Nissan kicked off negotiations this week to combine under a holding company slated to list by August 2026.