TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese automaker Honda Motor will procure batteries for its hybrid vehicles from Toyota Motor’s plant in the United States in an effort to reduce tariff risks under the Trump administration, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday.
From fiscal 2025, Japan’s second-biggest automaker will take in Toyota’s U.S.-made batteries for about 400,000 vehicles, which will be enough for all of its hybrid cars it sells in the country, the newspaper said.
A Honda representative said the information was not released by the company, adding it does not disclose where it sources its parts for mass production. Toyota declined to comment.
Honda currently sources batteries for the cars it assembles in the U.S. from Japan and China but is bracing for potential tariffs under Trump, the Nikkei added.
The move to source batteries in the U.S. would mark Honda’s latest step to shield itself from a possible tariff war.
Honda decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling models, people familiar with its plans told Reuters earlier this month.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Louise Heavens)
