- Nissan urges the Trump administration to ease tariffs on Mexico built cars.
- The automaker says a 10 to 15 percent rate is workable, but 25 is not.
- Those added costs put pressure on pricing and margins across key models.
Even as political pressure builds to bring production back to American soil, the economics of entry-level cars remain stubbornly unchanged. Nissan has once again made it clear that there’s no feasible way to produce the Sentra and Kicks in the US rather than Mexico, even with the current 25 percent tariff hanging over imports. While the company would clearly prefer to sidestep those added costs, the math does not work in its favor.
According to Nissan chief executive Ivan Espinosa, the automaker has studied the possibility of shifting production stateside, but the conclusion remains unchanged. Moving assembly to the US would push prices beyond what buyers in this segment are willing to tolerate, effectively undermining the cars’ core appeal.
Read: Trump Says He Wants Cars Built In America, Nissan Says That Ends The $22,600 Sentra
That is a problem Nissan cannot afford to create. The Sentra and Kicks are not niche players but central to the brand’s volume strategy in the US, accounting for more than 25 percent of its total sales in 2025.
“These two products are sourced from Mexico because of the affordability requirements of the segment,” Espinosa said. “At the moment, it’s not feasible to move them to the U.S. We need to continue working on the cost competitiveness.”
The True Cost Of Tariffs
Prices for the latest Sentra start at a competitive $22,600, while the Kicks SUV is available from as little as $22,430. Nissan recently said tariffs on vehicles built in Mexico add between $2,500 to $3,000 per vehicle, and has derided them as “unfair,” particularly given that tariffs on cars from South Korea and Europe currently sit at 15 percent.
According to Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier, a “25 percent [tariff] is not sustainable long term,” while a 10 to 15 percent rate “is manageable.”
To soften the blow, Nissan plans to increase the share of US-sourced parts in vehicles produced in Mexico. Espinosa also told Auto News the company is urging both the US and Mexican governments “to negotiate a reduction on lower-priced imports.”
