Latest news with #HondaMotorCo.
Japan Today
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- Japan Today
Japan seeks swift cut to U.S. auto tariff following trade deal
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that Japan will continue urging the United States to swiftly implement their bilateral trade agreement, including cutting tariffs on automobiles and auto parts. Ishiba said the government will take "all necessary measures" to mitigate the impact of higher U.S. tariffs on Japanese exports, adding that the details of an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump to implement a 15 percent "reciprocal" tariff are being examined. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at an earlier press conference that the executive order will help reduce uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and "downside risks" to the Japanese economy. The reciprocal tariff of 15 percent targeting Japan will take effect on Aug. 7, instead of Friday as initially expected. Based on the bilateral deal reached last month, the United States will reduce its tariff on imported Japanese cars to 15 percent from the current 27.5 percent. "We will continue to call on the United States to take measures to implement the bilateral agreement swiftly, including reductions in tariffs on cars and auto parts," Ishiba told reporters. "We have 4,318 items that are exported to the United States. Based on the progress seen today, we will take all necessary steps to minimize the tariff impact on each," he said. Japan is among nations that have seen their tariff rates lowered from levels earlier unveiled by the Trump administration. Japan initially sought the removal of the higher tariffs, but the United States apparently did not budge. Japan's negotiation team, led by economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, settled for lower rates. Akazawa said Thursday that it may take time for the 15 percent auto tariff to be implemented, citing a tariff deal on autos between Britain and the United States as a precedent. With the auto sector a major driver of Japan's export-reliant economy, higher U.S. duties on Japanese cars deal a blow to carmakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., given the importance of the U.S. market to their bottom lines. Trump slapped a 25 percent levy on U.S.-bound cars in April on top of a 2.5 percent duty already in place. © KYODO
Malaysian Reserve
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Malaysian Reserve
Toyota, Honda brace for impact after Trump auto tariffs, stronger yen
TOYOTA Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. earnings will paint a mixed picture as a stronger yen and US auto tariffs eat into profit, despite resilient unit sales. Toyota likely saw a dip in first-quarter operating profit, according to estimates. While the company posted record global sales in the first half driven by a surge in pre-tariff purchases, Bloomberg Intelligence said the automaker is likely weighed down by factors including supply chain costs. Honda's profit likely fell for the same reasons, according to BI. In June, Japanese automakers slashed US export prices by 19%, the biggest drop since records going back to 2016, sacrificing margins to remain competitive through the tariff turmoil. Japan's defense sector will also be in focus, as rising government spending will support sales and margin growth at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Tariff-related pressures are expected to weigh on Kawasaki Heavy's power-sports segment, while its defense unit is projected to drive margin expansion, Jefferies analyst Sho Fukuhara said. Profit margins at Mitsubishi Heavy's aircraft, defense and space business could exceed targets, supported by a gradual recovery in Boeing 787 production, BI said. –BLOOMBERG
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Mainichi
Nissan logs 115.76 bil. yen net loss in April-June on US tariffs
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it posted a net loss of 115.76 billion yen ($780 million) for the April-June quarter due to U.S. auto tariffs and expects to remain unprofitable in the first half, as U.S. trade policy adds pressure on the beleaguered carmaker to speed up restructuring. The loss in the first fiscal quarter is a sharp reversal from a profit of 28.56 billion yen in the same quarter last year. Nissan expects an operating loss of 180 billion yen for the six months through September. It did not issue a forecast for the full business year through March 2026, citing uncertainties over tariffs. President Donald Trump raised auto tariffs by 25 percentage points to 27.5 percent in April, but the United States and Japan agreed last week to reduce the rate to 15 percent for Japanese autos. "There is a change, but it's still not clear to us (what) some of the conditions and when the change for the tariff from Japan to the U.S. will come into place," Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa said at a press conference. "We welcome the improvement, but 15 percent is still a challenging number, which is why (we) need to costs and reducing our exposure to tariffs as much as we can," he added. The carmaker logged an operating loss of 79.12 billion yen in the three-month period, compared with 995 million in profit a year earlier, as sales fell 9.7 percent to 2.71 trillion yen. Tariffs accounted for the bulk of the operating loss at 68.7 billion yen, with the automaker also factoring in the weakening of the U.S. and Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, its global vehicle sales for the first fiscal quarter fell 10.1 percent from a year earlier to 707,000 units, with Nissan citing growing competition in China and waning confidence in the brand among Japanese customers. The automaker is in the midst of overhaul efforts to restore profitability by cutting back its global workforce and production capacity. It has announced plans to reduce global production capacity from 3.5 million units, excluding China, to 2.5 million units by cutting the number of production sites in Japan and abroad from 17 to 10 by fiscal 2027. Nissan said earlier in the day that it would end production at its Cuernavaca plant in Mexico by the end of March 2026. Earlier this month, it announced that it will cease vehicle production at its flagship Oppama plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, by the end of fiscal 2027, with operations to be transferred to its factory in southwestern Japan. "We are trying to keep a strategic geographical coverage while we resize the system for something that is more manageable for the level of revenue we are commanding," Espinosa said. He declined to comment on reports that the automaker planned to work with Honda Motor Co. to share common basic software, but confirmed they were in discussions on several joint projects. The two companies announced in December plans to begin merger talks under a holding company, aiming to share the financial burden of developing electric vehicles and software to better compete with global rivals. But the talks broke down less than two months later.
Mint
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Mint
Nissan racks up red ink, but Japanese automaker promises return to profit later this year
Tokyo, Japanese automaker Nissan sank into a 115.8 billion yen loss for April-June, but promised Wednesday to return to profitability later this year. Nissan Motor Corp. did not give a full-year net profit forecast. It recorded a 28.6 billion yen profit during the April-June quarter last year. Quarterly sales for the current fiscal year slipped nearly 10 per cent to 2.7 trillion yen . The maker of the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models said the results were better than expected. But it faces 'headwinds,' including declining sales, unfavourable exchange rates and President Donald Trump's tariffs. Ivan Espinosa, who took the helm at Nissan in April, replacing Makoto Uchida, said the company's recovery plan remained urgent. Uchida stepped down to take responsibility for the dismal fiscal results. Espinosa noted the initial steps of the company's revival plan were kicking in, including cutting costs, realigning products, reshaping a market strategy and strengthening partnerships. 'We must now go further and faster to achieve profitability. Everyone at Nissan is united in delivering a recovery that will ensure a sustainable and profitable future,' he said. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, has been struggling but is promising a turnaround under Espinosa, a Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan. The company said some of its models, such as the N7 in China and the Magnite in Mexico, have been selling well recently. Nissan recently ditched talks with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co. to set up a joint holding company. They said they will continue to cooperate on technology development. Nissan is closing its flagship factory in Oppama, Japan, outside Tokyo, by the end of the 2027 fiscal year, moving production there to another plant in southwestern Japan. Nissan is also slashing 15 per cent of its global workforce, or about 20,000 employees. That includes a 9,000 headcount reduction announced late last year. SKS GRS GRS This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Global stocks mostly rise as U.S. continues trade talks with China
Global shares were mixed Tuesday at the outset of a second day of trade talks between Chinese and U.S. officials. France's CAC 40 jumped 1.1% in early trading to 7,887.57, while the German DAX rose 1.0% to 24,191.38. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 24,191.38. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.2%. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% to 40,674.55 on broad selling of major companies including automakers and big banks. Toyota Motor Corp. dipped 2.3% and Honda Motor Co. fell 2.1%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group finished 1.8% lower, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group stock dipped 1.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.2% to 25,524.45, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% to 3,609.71. Analysts said investors were watching for the latest from U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. trade talks with China in Stockholm. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were meeting in the Swedish capital. 'Aside from addressing economic imbalances, tariffs are also now well entrenched in the geo-political arena,' Tan Boon Heng of the Asia & Oceania Treasury Department at Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,704.60. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.7% to 3,230.57. Samsung Electronics edged 0.3% higher after jumping nearly 7% on Monday on news that it signed a deal with Tesla to provide computer chips for its electric vehicles. This week will bring a flurry of potentially market-moving data releases, corporate earnings and an interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve. The widespread expectation on Wall Street is that Fed officials will wait until September to resume cutting interest rates, though a couple of Trump's appointees could dissent in the vote. The Fed has been on hold with interest rates this year since cutting them several times at the end of 2024. On Monday, the S&P 500 was nearly flat, edging up by less than 0.1% to 6,389.77 and setting an all-time high for a sixth straight day. The Dow dipped 0.1% to 44,837.56, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to its own record, closing at 21,178.58. Hundreds of U.S. companies are lined up to report how much profit they made during the spring, with nearly a third of the businesses in the S&P 500 index scheduled to deliver updates. Companies are broadly under pressure to deliver solid growth in profits following big jumps in their stock prices the last few months. Much of the gain was due to hopes that Trump would walk back some of his stiff proposed tariffs, and critics say the U.S. stock market looks expensive unless companies will produce bigger profits. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude jumped 50 cents to $67.21 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 47 cents to $69.79 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 148.53 Japanese yen from 148.56 yen. The euro cost $1.1567, down from $1.1589.
