Newly manufactured cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, on March 27, 2025.
Issei Kato | Reuters
Major Japanese automakers have denied to CNBC that they have raised prices in the U.S. because of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
That comes after a Nikkei Asia report on Thursday that stated that Japanese automakers are “passing some of the expense of U.S. tariffs through to American car buyers, a change from their strategy of absorbing the impact.”
Japan was hit with 25% tariffs on automobiles in April, but that was lowered to 15% under a deal reached with the Trump administration on July 22.
Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, told CNBC on Thursday that when its U.S. affiliate raised prices in July, it was “not in response to the tariffs or prospects of increases, but rather a regular, annual price increase to reflect increases in various operational costs.”
“We have said that we would observe the situation concerning the tariffs as governments were still negotiating then, but our general stance was not to increase prices to avoid making our cars unaffordable for the customers waiting for their vehicles,” the company added.
Reuters reported in June Toyota’s plan to increase prices by an average of $270 in July, but a Toyota spokesperson also denied then that the hikes were a direct result of U.S. tariffs.
In its financial results for the first quarter ended June 2025 — Toyota had estimated the impact of U.S. tariffs to be 450 billion yen ($3.03 billion) in its first quarter, and projected it would be 1.4 trillion yen for the full year, taking the U.S.-Japan trade deal into account.
Similarly, Honda told CNBC it has been able to avoid passing tariff costs directly on its products, saying the brand has been able to do so because it has more vehicles in the top 20 of Cars.com’s American-Made Index than any other brand.
The index says it ranks models by “how American your prospective car or truck might be,” taking into account factors such as location of final assembly and percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts.
Honda said, “Any price changes for the 2026 Honda models now on sale are tied to added feature content that enhances value for the customer and boosts the competitiveness of our products.”
As for Nissan, the company said prices have not been increased because of U.S. tariffs, adding that it was leveraging vehicles produced at its U.S. plants as much as possible to help offset tariffs.
“At the same time, we are managing inventory to meet consumer demand while maintaining competitive pricing. We continue to monitor the market and will make adjustments as needed,” its response to CNBC added.