According to foreign media reports, in May this year, despite the challenge of the United States imposing tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, Japan’s automobile exports were andyieldIt still maintains a strong momentum, with Toyota Motor Company setting a new record for monthly deliveries. However, the troubled Nissan Motor Company’s exports to North America have declined sharply.
2026 model bZ; Image source: Toyota Motor
Overall, in May this year, the total export volume of the six major Japanese automakers operating in the United States reached 274,806 units, a year-on-year increase of 3%; In the first five months of this year, the export volume of these Japanese car companies also increased by 3% year-on-year to 1.5 million units; Among them, the number of cars exported from Japan to the North American market remained solid, partly because American consumers bought cars ahead of time before automakers raised prices to offset the cost of tariffs.
This strong performance is undoubtedly a glimmer of hope for automakers such as Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company, especially against the backdrop of the failure to make substantial progress in Japan-US trade negotiations. However, for smaller Japanese car companies such as Mazda Motor Company, Subaru Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Company, the monthly data released on June 26Production and salesThe data shows that because exports account for a higher proportion of global sales, their performance is mixed. At the same time, as Nissan Motor Company is undergoing a radical restructuring aimed at cutting global production capacity, its exports, production and global sales all declined in May this year.
Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. continued to lead the export and sales in May
In terms of specific car companies, in May this year, Toyota Motor Company’s export volume increased by 10% year-on-year to 142,501 units, of which the number exported to North America increased by 31% year-on-year to 49,922 units; Toyota Motor Company’s global sales also increased 7.5% year-on-year to 955,532 units due to strong demand for hybrid models, including the RAV4 crossover, which is about to undergo a complete facelift, marking the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year increase in global sales.
As one of the Japanese car companies with low exports, Honda’s exports surged 64% year-on-year to 10,875 units in May this year, of which the number of cars exported to North America soared to 3,262 units from 62 units in the same period last year; It is worth noting that about 2,900 units were exported to the United States, compared to only 12 units in the same period last year.
Subaru and Mitsubishi Motors also increased their car exports in May this year, although neither company has released specific data on exports to North America. It is worth noting that Mitsubishi Motors, which has not yet localized production in the United States, saw an 11% year-on-year increase in car exports in May.
In contrast, Nissan’s performance in May this year was disappointing: exports fell 30% year-on-year, of which exports to North America fell 42% year-on-year; Global production decreased by 17% year-on-year, of which production in Japan decreased by 17% year-on-year and overseas factory production decreased by 16% year-on-year; Global sales also fell 6% y/y to 256,159 units.
Overall, the global production of six Japanese automakers is declining. In May this year, the total global production of these six Japanese automakers fell slightly by 3.5% year-on-year to 1.67 million units, but the production cuts mainly occurred overseas, and the Japanese local factories remained operational; It is reported that the local production of these six Japanese car companies fell slightly by 0.5% year-on-year, while the output of overseas factories fell by 4.8% year-on-year; However, it is worth noting that Honda Motor Company and Mazda Motor Company also joined Nissan Motor Company in cutting domestic production in Japan, with Honda’s domestic production falling 3.5% year-on-year to 49,348 units and Mazda Motor Company’s local production decreasing 8.8% year-on-year to 50,620 units.
Japanese automakers are under pressure from $11 billion in tariff costs
In the face of Trump’s tariffs, Japanese automakers are still struggling to cope. In its latest earnings report released in May this year, Japanese car companies warned that profits in the coming year will be hit by at least $11 billion in total due to tariffs.
Japan’s automotive industry is the backbone of the country’s national economy, employing approximately 5.5 million people in the country. However, Japan’s threat as an automobile exporter has diminished year by year. As Japanese car companies promote localized production in North America, their exports to the United States continue to decline. In 2006, Japan exported about 2.3 million vehicles to the United States, but by 2023 that number has dropped to 1.5 million.
Despite this, Japan’s domestic economy is extremely sensitive to external trade shocks. Automobile exports account for about 30% of Japan’s total exports to the United States. According to data from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, since Honda Motor Company became the first Japanese car company to build a factory in the United States in 1982, the cumulative investment of Japanese car companies in the United States has reached about $664 billion.
Today, Japanese automakers produce about 3.3 million units a year in the United States, a significant jump from 1.5 million units in 1990. According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Japanese automakers directly employ 110,000 people in the United States, more than tripling from 1990; At the same time, it drove 2.2 million jobs in the United States.
In addition, official trade data released on June 18 showed that the value of cars exported from Japan to the United States fell by 24.7% year-on-year in May this year, although the number of cars exported to the United States fell by only 3.9% year-on-year. These data suggest that Japanese automakers lowered car prices before Trump’s tariffs were implemented to digest the tariff costs themselves, rather than passing them on to consumers. However, this strategy cannot be sustained for most businesses in the long term.
