It has been over 60 years since the Toyopet Crown landed on U.S. shores, marking the first time a Japanese-made vehicle would be sold Stateside.
It’s been about 40 years since the Japanese collective featuring Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Mazda was able to challenge the Big 3 automakers Ford, GM, and Chrysler for the top sales crown in the U.S.
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But 40 years of progress hit a huge speed bump this year when President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs covering more than $460 billion worth of auto imports, according to Reuters.
The situation is especially tenuous for Japanese automakers.
The Japanese auto sector represents 20% of all the country’s exports, according to a U.N. report this year. The report estimates that Japan could lose $17 billion in “export potentials in the U.S.” due to the new duties.
Japan exports about $41 billion worth of cars to the U.S. annually.
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Japanese automakers have to choose the best course of action on their own, and it appears some are coming to different conclusions.
Last week, Mazda sent a letter to its U.S. dealers informing them that it would not raise its sticker prices or tack on import fees for any vehicles already on dealership lots or that will come into the country before May 1.
The letter, which the Wall Street Journal viewed, is Mazda’s response to the 25% tariffs on car imports. Despite Mazda having a plant near Huntsville, Alabama, that only makes up about 20% of the vehicles you see on American roads. Most of the Mazdas sold in the U.S. are built in Japan and Mexico.
But another Japanese automaker is taking a different approach.
Mitsubishi takes drastic action in the fact of tariffs
Mitsubishi will hold its vehicles in port for the foreseeable future instead of offloading them and being forced to pay duties.
“We have sufficient stock on the ground at dealers for the moment to not impact customer choice,” the company told Automotive News.
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It is unclear exactly how much inventory Mitsubishi has in the U.S., but the company is hoping that Japan and the U.S. can come to an agreement before it has to potentially pay hundreds of millions of dollars in extra taxes.
There are 330 Mitsubishi dealers currently in the U.S.
Mitsubishi Motors North America sold 109,843 vehicles in the U.S. in 2024, a 25.8% year-over-year increase and the brand’s best performance since 2019.
Japan has been preparing for tariff eventuality
Japanese automakers began anticipating the damage to their sector during a March meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), according to a report from Automotive News.
“We will be looking at how to absorb short-term shocks and what concrete measures we can take to deal with these shocks, as well as how to deal with them in an all-Japan manner,” said JAMA Chairman Masanori Katayama.
Additionally, Katayama said the group discussed its strategies to absorb and mitigate potential tariffs with the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry officials.
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