Nissan considers transferring some domestic production to US

Nissan eyes manufacturing shift to dodge US Tariffs

Robert Besser
08 Apr 2025, 21:34 GMT+10

Nissan considers transferring some domestic production to US

Nissan may soon make a strategic shift in its manufacturing operations, according to a new report from Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, as the automaker looks to limit the impact of escalating U.S. trade tariffs
The company is reportedly considering a plan to relocate part of its U.S. market production from Japan to the United States
As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the United States to mitigate the impact of Trump's tariffs, the business newspaper said

TOKYO, Japan: Nissan may soon make a strategic shift in its manufacturing operations, according to a new report from Japan's Nikkei newspaper, as the automaker looks to limit the impact of escalating U.S. trade tariffs.

The company is reportedly considering a plan to relocate part of its U.S. market production from Japan to the United States.

As early as this summer, Nissan plans to reduce production at its Fukuoka factory in western Japan and shift some manufacturing of its Rogue SUV to the United States to mitigate the impact of Trump's tariffs, the business newspaper said, without citing the source of its information.

The Japanese automaker's Rogue SUV, a key model in the U.S. market, is now produced in Fukuoka and the United States, the report said.

Late last week, Nissan announced that it would not accept new orders from the U.S. for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following earlier Trump tariff announcements, marking a drastic scale-back of its operations at a joint venture plant.

The automaker now plans to maintain two production shifts of the Rogue at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant, after announcing in January that it would end one of the two shifts this month.

Nissan sold approximately 920,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, of which around 16 percent were exported from Japan, according to the Nikkei. The planned production shift could impact local suppliers' businesses, the report added.