How This Deal Affects American Automakers

Issue #147

Japan gets a tariff “break”, and the consequences are still unclear. We break it down.

Plus, Musk could get trillions, Toyota promises more excitement and people are pumped about the Prelude.

Market News

• Stellantis files a patent for a 1,341-hp drivetrain, and it has many excited! Here’s how it would work. 

• Musk’s payment package could be worth a trillion dollars (yes, a trillion), but this is the catch.

• Authorities searched this river for one car. Instead, they found 97. Click the link to learn more about this fascinating tale. 

• Toyota promises a new EV, with an exciting twist, that could realign the market. Here’s more. 

• Speaking of Toyota, here’s how their small truck will stack up to the Maverick.

• Honda reduces billions in EV development. Instead, it will shift investment to this. 

• BMW’s new Neue Klasse (pun intended) has this upper hand on its rivals. 

• This Porsche SUV will have wireless charging, and it could change the game.

• BMW’s CEO said the gas ban was a mistake, but his sales numbers tell a different story.

• Mercedes-Benz confirms that it’s bringing back this iconic car, but with a hefty price tag and controversial looks.

Safety and Recalls

• Ford (yup) recalls the Mustang because water seeps into this part and shorts it.

• Can you guess it? Ford has another recall. This time, it’s more than 100,000 Rangers for this reason.

Car Culture

• GM files for a patent that could keep dangerous drivers off the road. Here’s how.

• Former F-1 pilot Daniel Ricciardo is selling this supercar after driving it only 100 miles!

• Here’s how a loophole created one of Pontiac’s craziest cars (with a great name).

• This Triumph set a standard for design, but it was years ahead of its time, and doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. 

• Here are some of the world’s coolest and craziest police cars.

• These are the 10 cars that nobody is interested in–literally, nobody searches for them on Google.

• Cops ticket this car for an exhaust it doesn’t have.

• Nicolas Cage had a fascinating car collection before the IRS came and took it all away.

• Jeep must not screw up the 2029 Wrangler and for a good reason–here’s why.

• The Nissan Z Nismo is finally getting something fans have wanted for years. Here’s more on it.

Video Of The Week

Here’s one of the most expensive parking lots in the world, thanks to the Quail.

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In The Know

What Does Japan’s Deal Mean For American Automakers?

We love our American cars (most of the FWT staff have had a GMT platform at some point in their lives), but we also have huge respect and affinity for Japanese cars. Again, most of our staff have had Toyotas as well. 

We know we’re not alone. American car buyers love Japanese cars–evidence of this is that the RAV4 replaced the F-150 as the country’s most popular vehicle, as you can read here.

2025 has been a chaotic year for cars, to say the least, and things aren’t settling down. President Trump has just signed an executive order slashing US import duties on Japanese cars from 25% down to 15%, effective immediately—with retroactive effect back to August 7.

This news is confusing, as just weeks ago, Japan was hit with a 25% rate, prompting Japanese automakers to rush production to the US, as highlighted in this March article. 

So, why the change? It’s a very complex political and economic topic, but this article does a great job of summarizing it. 

We’ll summarize it even more. Japan has agreed to a $550 billion investment in the US, including markets such as chips, metals, pharma, energy, and yes, new factories.

Automatically, those of us in the automotive industry begin to wonder how this will affect the American automakers and whether it will hurt them. The answer is complicated. 

First of all, several vocal groups, such as the United Auto Workers, have expressed their concerns. 

This move might be unfair, pointing out that American vehicles still face up to 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum and 25% on parts, while Japanese brands benefit from a lower rate. You can read more about this here. 

That is true, but in fairness to the industry, we must also flip the lens, though, and you’ll see why this matters for Japanese players—and American consumers. Smaller Japanese automakers like Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Subaru have taken serious hits under the old rules, even though the consumer didn’t feel the brunt of the tariffs for a while, as this article recalls. 

However, things are starting to become more expensive. Mitsubishi might not be a bestseller in the US. Still, it faced a significant disadvantage when its most promising SUV saw a price increase that pushed it out of the competition. 

The only benefit is that, in reality, it won’t be the only automaker hiking prices. Subaru is definitely more popular than Mitsubishi, and it has had to increase prices to stay afloat. Plus, it’s stripping down some models, as this article explains. 

What’s ironic is that, once all this settles, the winner in this competition might (emphasis on “might”) be us: the consumer. 

On the plus side, lower tariffs should give us more options, and good ones at that. Japanese cars are reliable, and some of them are fun, such as the new Honda Prelude. However, its price is already scaring enthusiasts away. Here’s a sneak peek.

However, the scale could swing against the American companies, and some of them aren’t having the best time. Ford is breaking records (and not good ones) left and right, and it won’t get better soon, according to this article. 

Stellantis is, well, Stellantis. What can we expect? We don’t know. This company continues to surprise us, both in good and bad ways. One good thing to note is that there are high hopes for the new Cherokee, as explained here.

GM, on the other hand, is somewhat stable, with Buick performing well, the Equinox EV being a bestseller among all brands, and the company even bringing back the Camaro.

We discussed how Buick managed to be a bestseller by being reliable, unlike other brands. Read more about it here. 

Here’s the real question—what happens next? Will we see more domestic investments to meet this challenge head-on? Or will this tariff reset create a gap between Japan and the US?

I think it’s the first one. What about you?