By Yasuhiro Kobayashi

Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

NEW YORK -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. reported a slight increase in new car sales in the United States for June year on year, while Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. logged a decrease, according to data released by the four major Japanese automakers on Tuesday.

The results reflect the aftermath of a buying rush seen in the wake of tariff measures announced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Toyota's U.S. sales in June increased 0.1% to 193,248 units, which is a slowdown compared to the 11% increase in May and 10% increase in April. Honda's sales rose 2% to 114,486 units. Like Toyota, this shows a slowdown from the 7% increase in May and 18% increase in April.

Meanwhile, Subaru's sales fell 16% to 46,515 units, and Mazda's sales dropped 6% to 33,385 units, both marking their second consecutive month of year-on-year declines. In May, Subaru fell 10% and Mazda fell 19%.

According to quarterly data released the same day by Nissan Motor Co., the automaker saw its U.S. sales for the April-June period down 6%, compared to the same period last year, to 221,441 units. This marks a reversal from a 6% increase in the January-March period.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also logged a decrease for the April-June period, by 3% to 22,116 units. Sales in the January-March period had risen 11%.

On April 3, the Trump administration imposed an additional 25% tariff on imported automobiles. In response, there was a rush to purchase new cars in the United States before the price increase, but sales growth is likely to slow down going forward.

Furthermore, Japanese automakers have primarily sold inventory accumulated before the tariff implementation, so the impact of tariff costs on prices has been limited. If the tariff measures are not revised through Japan-U.S. negotiations, widespread price hikes will likely be inevitable, raising concerns about a sales decline.

----

This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

YDN-m0000126347-1

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 04, 2025 06:57 ET (10:57 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 The Yomiuri Shimbun