Nissan Motor (NSANY) is working to reduce costs on its Mexico-built models as 25% tariffs make parts of its US lineup harder to sell. CEO Ivan Espinosa said the company is paying close attention to vehicles hit by the duties, especially as affordability pressure in the US market could push more buyers toward lower-priced cars. He noted that Nissan is working strongly to make those models more competitive.

The pressure is centered on Mexico-made vehicles such as the Nissan Sentra compact and Kicks crossover, which Nissan has kept in Mexico to benefit from lower labor costs. The company has said tariffs on the Kicks and Sentra cost around $2,500 to $3,000 per vehicle. Mexico-made models accounted for more than one-third of Nissan's US sales last year, including the Sentra, Kicks, Versa sedan, and Infiniti's QX50 and QX55 crossovers, though the latter three have since been discontinued.

Espinosa also signaled that Nissan still sees value in building more vehicles in the US, even as the yen weakens against the dollar. Nissan ended last year producing about 60% of the products it sells in America locally, up from roughly 45% at the beginning of 2025. The CEO also pointed to continued collaboration opportunities with Honda and potential expansion of Nissan's long-running partnership with China's Dongfeng Motor Group.