Toyota sales hit second monthly record on US demand, tariff rush

[TOKYO] Toyota Motor’s sales hit a record for the second month in a row as a strong showing in the US and Japan was boosted by customers making last-minute purchases before US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect.

The automaker’s global sales, including from subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, reached 936,718 units in April, a 12 per cent increase from a year earlier year and a record for the month, the company said on Thursday (May 29). Production came in at 902,425 units worldwide.

Toyota and Lexus brand sales jumped 10 per cent in the US last month thanks to steady demand and an influx in orders as duties on imported cars and parts kicked in.

The scuffle caused by Trump’s oscillating trade war has forced the world’s biggest carmaker and its peers to weigh semi-permanent countermeasures to stem short-term turmoil.

A 25 per cent tariff was applied in April to all cars imported to the US, but on Thursday Trump’s global tariffs were deemed illegal and blocked by the US trade court. The Trump administration said it was going to appeal the ruling.

Japanese carmakers are heavily reliant on the US auto market and could suffer as much as a US$19 billion impact from the tariffs.

Toyota, which has forecast a 180 billion yen (S$1.6 billion) hit in April and May alone, has mostly stayed its course, emphasising that it will respond flexibility but refrain from big changes until the future is less opaque. chief executive officer Koji Sato earlier this month said the company will consider building out local product development and manufacturing in the US in the medium to long term.

In March, Toyota’s US sales rose 8 per cent from a year earlier while Honda Motor recorded a 13 per cent jump, and Nissan Motor’s rose 10 per cent.

Mazda Motor said it will pause US production of one model variation that it exports to Canada. Honda plans to shift manufacturing of the hybrid version of its Civic from Japan to the US, while Nissan is halting US orders for SUVs built in Mexico. BLOOMBERG