Honda Motor Co. plans to move production of its hybrid Civic from Japan to the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported cars.
Production of the five-door hybrid model, which began in February in Saitama prefecture in central Japan, will be relocated around June or July to Honda’s plant in Indiana, a spokesperson for the automaker said Wednesday.
“The decision was made based on external factors including the Trump administration’s tariffs,” they said.
Honda’s confirmation follows a day of conflicting reports that it would move some production from Canada and Mexico to U.S. plants — also because of the tariffs. Later on April 15, Honda Canada denied the reports.
“We can confirm that our Canadian manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ont., will operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future and no changes are being considered at this time,” Honda Canada Corporate Communications Director Ken Chiu said in a statement to Automotive News Canada.
Honda executives in Mexico have told the government there that there are no changes in the company’s production plan in the country, Mexico Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in a post on X earlier this week.
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While it’s difficult to predict if, when or where Trump’s levies will take effect, Honda is among one of the most exposed foreign brands in the U.S. It imports roughly 160,000 cars from Mexico to the U.S. each year, an executive said in November. The U.S. is also the largest market for Honda, along with other Japanese carmakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.
Trump’s mooted tariffs could raise U.S. passenger car prices by more than 14 percent, according to Christopher Richter, a senior analyst at CLSA Securities Japan. Honda could suffer a 20 percent drop in operating profit, Richter said, versus a forecast 33 percent drop for Toyota, 56 percent for Subaru Corp. and 68 percent for Mazda Motor Corp.
Trump hinted earlier this week that he might temporarily relieve the auto industry from tariffs but didn’t specify how long any potential pause would be. Trump announced auto tariffs of 25 percent in late March with tariffs for completed vehicles taking effect April 3 and tariffs for automotive parts set to start 30 days later.
