Nissan Targets More US Production After Tariff Hit, But CEO Ivan Espinosa Says Sub-$30,000 Models Make Mexico Shift ‘Impractical’

Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee

July 14, 2026 5 min read

7201.T
NSANY

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Nissan Motor Co.'s is increasing U.S. production to blunt tariff costs, but CEO Ivan Espinosasays the automaker will not move every Mexico-built vehicle north of the border because lower-priced models cannot absorb the added cost.

US Production Shift Shows Early Gains

"We started with around 45% of our mix being produced in the U.S.," Espinosa told Yahoo Finance on Sunday. "We ended the year with 60%. So the strategy is working." Nissan has said it wants to lift domestic production to 80% within four to five years.

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The company operates major U.S. manufacturing facilities in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi. Nissan's U.S. sales have also strengthened. The company reported 242,741 U.S. sales in the second quarter, up 9.6% from a year earlier, and said it has logged 16 straight months of year-over-year increases in retail sales.

Espinosa said Nissan paid $1.6 billion in tariffs in 2025, forcing the company to localize more production and cut costs elsewhere. But he said shifting the Mexico-built Sentra and Kicks to the U.S. would not work financially.

Cheap Mexico-Built Models Stay Put

"These products under the $30,000 price point have thin profit margins," Espinosa said, calling a Mexico-to-U.S. move for those models "impractical."

That tension reflects a broader affordability problem. Earlier reports revealed that foreign automakers warned Trump administration officials that new tariff structures could cause some cheaper vehicles to disappear from the U.S. market.

Toyota Move Highlights Different Tariff Bet

Toyota Motor Corp., meanwhile, has taken a more aggressive approach to U.S. manufacturing. Reuters reported last week that Toyota will invest $3.6 billion in San Antonio, add 2,000 jobs and shift some Tacoma production from Mexico to Texas by 2030, while continuing Tacoma output in Guanajuato.

Nissan is choosing flexibility instead. The decision comes as the Trump administration declined to renew the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in its current form, opening a new review period and pushing talks over stricter North American manufacturing rules.

"The focus in the company has moved from trying to be a good forecasting organization to being a quick and nimble organization," Espinosa said.

Benzinga's Edge StockRankings indicate that NSANY stock maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms.

Photo: Grzegorz Czapski/Shutterstock

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