One Of Nissan’s Cheapest Cars Could Cross The Border To Stay That Way

The current tariff situation will see the implementation of a new 25% tariff on imported cars and components, and just about everybody will be impacted in some way, even for American automakers like Tesla, GM, and Ford. But it’ll be worse for foreign makers, particularly Japanese automakers who sell in the U.S.

Many are rethinking their production plans, shifting existing inventory around, and beginning the process of potentially moving more manufacturing stateside. That now includes Nissan, which is reportedly considering moving the affordable Nissan Sentra sedan production from its current home in Mexico to the automaker’s underutilized production facility in Mississippi.

Base Trim Engine

2.0L Inline-4 Gas

Base Trim Transmission

Continuously Variable Automatic (CVT)

Base Trim Drivetrain

Front-Wheel Drive

The Nissan Sentra’s Price Sensitivity

According to Automotive News, Nissan is reportedly weighing the balance of increased labor costs of moving production stateside versus the cost of paying the tariff, and likely focusing on how it will impact the final sticker price of the sedan itself. Simply adding the tariff to the current MSRP with no offset from Nissan would put the Sentra at nearly $29,000, at least.

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The Nissan Sentra currently starts for less than $23,000 in the U.S., where it’s also the second-best-selling model for Nissan. It accounts for nearly 20 percent of Nissan’s U.S. volume, so its price is very important to the brand, and there’s likely no way the price sticks for long.

Moving Sentra production to Canton, Mississippi would improve that factory’s output numbers, as it currently only operates at about 51% utilization for production of the Frontier pickup and Altima sedan, the latter of which could age out of production in the next few years. It’s reported it could take between 3 and 6 months to move Sentra production north, once a decision is made and if there’s tooling compatibility across factories, which is unclear for now.

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It was reported earlier this month that parts from Mexico would no longer face the 25% penalty for crossing the U.S. border, after negotiations between the Mexican and U.S. governments agreed to uphold the terms of the existing USMCA deal from Trump’s first administration. That does not appear to count toward full models produced in Mexico, however, which will still face a tariff, including the Sentra, for now.

Tariff Impact On Nissan So Far

Nissan has previously projected a $3.1 billion hit for its fiscal year because of tariffs and other market conditions, as the brand wasn’t exactly in the best place in the US prior to the Trump administration’s implementation of new tariffs. New Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa also recently announced a likely 15 percent global workforce reduction, along with supplier downsizing, that is projected to offset around 30 percent of the tariff cost.

The company has also canceled plans for two new electric sedans and two electric SUVs, some of which would have been built in Mississippi, and will now produce just one new BEV SUV that could be modeled after the old Xterra off-road model.

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Editor’s Note:

It should be noted that Nissan’s woes predate the Trump administration’s second inauguration, and possibly even its first. The automaker has been stagnant in some areas for years, but its ambitious new CEO seems to have the vigor to facilitate a turnaround. And not with yet another iteration of the R35, either.

Source: Automotive News