Reuters (January 28)
“Japan’s car market is ripe for consolidation. Years of falling sales both at home and abroad had already been putting financial pressure on several of the country’s seven major automakers.” The Nissan/Honda merger fell through, “but a Suzuki Motor takeover of Mazda Motor would be a smart move.”
Tags: Abroad, Automakers, Car market, Consolidation, Falling sales, Financial pressure, Honda, Japan, Mazda, Merger Suzuki, Nissan, Smart
Washington Post (July 24)
With import tariffs capped at 15%, Japanese autos look set to “benefit more than their rivals” due to the recently concluded U.S./Japan trade agreement while cars manufactured in their American plants may be able to escape tariffs completely. In contrast, many U.S. automakers have supply chains that “cross multiple borders, particularly in North America, where goods from Mexico and Canada are subject to 25 percent tariffs.” This may leave domestic automakers at a disadvantage. “Vehicles assembled in Mexico,” like the Chevrolet Equinox and the Ford Maverick, are expected to pass on “the highest costs to consumers.”
Tags: 15%, 25%, Assembled, Automakers, Autos, Benefit, Canada, Cars, Chevrolet, Costs, Ford, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/23/automakers-tariff-japan/ Japan, Import tariffs, Mexico, Multiple borders, North America, Rivals, Supply chains, Trade agreement, U.S., Vehicles
New York Times (July 23)
“G.M. was the second automaker this week to show the toll that the Trump administration’s trade policies are taking on the industry. Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles, said on Monday that it lost 2.3 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in the first half of the year partly because of tariffs and other Republican policies.” Automakers employ roughly “one million manufacturing workers. Eroding profits will make it harder for them to invest in new technologies to withstand growing competition from Chinese automakers that have been expanding abroad.”
Tags: $2.7 billion, Automakers, China, Chrysler, Competition, G.M., Industry, Invest, Jeep, Manufacturing, Profits, Stellantis, Tariffs, Technologies, Trade policies, Trump, Withstand, Workers
Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“As exports of rare-earth magnets have virtually ground to a halt, carmakers face hard decisions about whether they can continue to keep some plants operating.” Major U.S. automakers are considering work arounds like “producing electric motors in Chinese factories or shipping made-in-America motors to China to have magnets installed.” If they do “end up shifting some production to China, it would amount to a remarkable outcome from a trade war initiated by President Trump with the intention of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.”
Tags: Automakers, Carmakers, China, Decisions, Electric motors, Exports, Factories, Halt, Manufacturing, Plants, Production, Rare-earth magnets, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (April 22)
“The burning question facing China’s EV industry… is how and when it can convert explosive sales of ground-breaking vehicles into sustainable profits. The intense competition driving the sector’s innovation has also made China a market with precious few winners, foreign or domestic.” Approximately 170 domestic and automakers are competing in China, “but only 14 have a market share higher than 2%.” In 2024, excluding hybrids there were 327 EV models produced by 86 brands. Ultimately, there will be “few survivors from China’s hypercompetitive EV industry.”
Tags: Automakers, China, Competition, Domestic, EV industry, EVs, Explosive sales, Foreign, Ground-breaking, Hybrids, Hypercompetitive, Innovation, Market share, Survivors, Sustainable profits, Winners
Jalopnik (January 15)
“American automakers have long feared Chinese competition, worrying that cheaper cars built just as well would knock the floor out of a profitable industry. Now, regulators have found a way to protect American brands by outright banning Chinese cars — or automotive hardware or software — used for communications or autonomous driving.”
Tags: Automakers, Autonomous driving, Banning, Brands, Cars, Cheaper, China, Communications, Competition, Hardware, Profitable, Protect, Regulators, Software, U.S.
Bloomberg (November 27)
“As China’s assault on the world’s automotive industry gathers speed, Japan’s national champions are emerging as some of the biggest victims. In China itself, the world’s largest car market, Japanese automakers are fighting for survival as local competitors flood showrooms” with EVs. Chinese carmakers are also “pushing into Southeast Asia, rapidly gaining ground in what has long been a stronghold for legacy brands like Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.” We’ve transitioned from “Made in Japan to Made in China,” with Japan’s share of global passenger car production essentially halved (from 21.6% to 11.4%) over the past 25 years while China’s share has rocketed from 1.4% to 38.4% in 2023.
Tags: Automakers, Automotive industry, Car market, Carmakers, China, Competitors, EVs, Honda, Japan, Legacy brands, Mitsubishi, Southeast Asia, Stronghold, Survival, Toyota, Victims
Wall Street Journal (August 26)
“Workers at the Detroit automakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that authorizes the United Auto Workers leadership to call for a strike as talks between the union and companies continue…. The negotiations are among a wave of protracted labor talks this year that have vexed companies and at times threatened to spill over into work stoppages. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently reached a five-year contract agreement with United Parcel Service, dodging a potential standoff that could have rippled across the U.S. supply chain.”
Tags: Automakers, Contract, Detroit, Labor, Negotiations, Protracted, Strike, Teamsters, UAW, Union, UPS, Voted, Work stoppages, Workers
Bloomberg (February 4)
“Fears that the coronavirus will ravage global supply chains rooted in China are spreading fast.” For some industries this could be a blessing. “A hiatus from production in the world’s largest car market may force” automakers “to take some needed rebalancing.” Overcapacity and production are running rife. “China’s factories have the capacity to make over 60 million vehicles a year. Only a third of that number are sold. Yet carmakers seem unable to, well, stop making cars.”
Tags: Automakers, Cars, China, Coronavirus, Fears, Overcapacity, Production, Ravage, Supply chains
Bloomberg (July 27)
With over 300 million vehicles, China’s fleet is the world’s largest and the impact will be increasingly felt worldwide. “Secondhand car exports are starting modestly and the country will take time to catch up to more established players.” Still, it’s clear that “China will have more used cars to sell than anybody and its export business will inevitably grow into the world’s biggest.” This will place pressure on new vehicle sales as well. “Global automakers might want to strap on their seatbelts.”
Tags: Automakers, Car, China, Exports, Fleet, New, Pressure, Secondhand, Used, Vehicles, World's biggest
