The tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration were bound to have an impact on car prices. Toyota is one of the first foreign car companies to do so. The Japanese company is going to increase the prices of its models in the US by more than 00 from July.
Donald Trump's trade war is creating tensions in the car industry and customers are having to bear some of the cost. Toyota is already facing a decline in exports to the US. According to Japan's Ministry of Finance, exports fell by 1.7 percent in May, mainly due to a decrease in auto shipments.
Toyota is trying to meet the increase in costs and maintain profitability. Prices in Toyota's U.S. lineup will increase in July. Each model will be more expensive. The US tariffs will also have an impact on Lexus models that are available to US customers.
According to Bloomberg, Nobu Sunaga, a spokesman for the company, says that customers will have to pay more than 00 for each model. Toyota-branded models will see an average price increase of 70, while Lexus buyers will pay 08 more, he said.
Sunaga told Bloomberg in an email that the new pricing strategy has been decided based on market conditions and what competitors offer. The spokesperson did not provide any further information, but "market conditions" is a way of saying tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed on imported goods.
Toyota's biggest markets are the United States, China and Japan. In 2024, the company sold a total of 10.8 million vehicles worldwide, of which 2,332,623 were sold in the US. The RAV4 is Toyota's best-selling model in the US.
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The best-selling Toyota vehicle in the US is the RAV4 crossover, with a starting price of 9,250. At this price, customers get the LE trim which has a 2.5 -litre four-cylinder engine and a DirectShift eight-speed automatic transmission, which works in a front-wheel drive setup.
Starting July 1, the starting price of the RAV4 is expected to be 9,520. America's second most preferred Toyota vehicle is the Camry, which comes with an MSRP of 8,700 in the country. Its base LE model comes with the same 2.5 -litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain.
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The tariffs on imported cars came into effect on April 3 and on imported parts on May 3. Foreign carmakers are facing difficulties in a volatile market. Some have halted exports to the US while waiting for safe conditions. Companies like Mitsubishi decided to keep the shipped vehicles at the port for some time.
Mitsubishi subsequently announced price increases for three of its models available in the US market, citing general adjustments to include inflation. Meanwhile, Honda is also considering similar measures to reduce the impact of the 25% tariff.
