Honda to Partially Shift Domestic Production to U.S. as Early as June Due to Tariffs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:23 JST, April 17, 2025

Honda Motor Co. intends to shift domestic production of one of its mainstay U.S.-bound Civic models to the United States as early as June, company officials said Wednesday.

The move is aimed at easing the impact of an additional tariff on imported cars imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The automaker plans to move production of its U.S.-bound five-door Civic hybrid model to its plant in Indiana.

Production had begun in February at Saitama Factory Automobile Plant in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture, with about 3,000 units produced by March.

The company plans to maintain production of its Civic Type R sports cars at Saitama Factory Automobile Plant and supply the vehicles to places including the United States and within Japan.

Honda sold about 1.4 million vehicles in the United States in 2024, and about 70% of them were produced there. This percentage is higher than other Japanese automakers. Many vehicles were also exported from plants in other countries such as Canada, with only about 5,400 units exported from Japan.

Although the proportion of production that could be switched to the United States is low, Honda is also considering such measures as transferring production of vehicles from Canada to the United States because it expects that the series of U.S. tariff measures would have a negative impact of about ¥700 billion.

Nissan Motor Co. is also planning to move production to the United States. Its main model for the U.S. market, Rogue, is currently produced at a plant in Fukuoka Prefecture. The company intends to produce about 10,000 units, previously planned to be produced from May to July, at a plant in Tennessee, company officials said.