Honda Motor will purchase batteries for its hybrid vehicles from Toyota Motor's plant USA, in a bid to curtail tariff risks under the Trump Administration, Reuters reported citing the Nikkei newspaper.
Nikkei said that from fiscal 2025, Honda will use Toyota's batteries manufactured in the USA for roughly 400,000 vehicles, which will be enough for all if its hybrid cars it sells in the country.
A Honda representative said the information was not released by the company, adding it does not disclose where it sources its parts for mass production. Toyota declined to comment.
At present, Honda sources batteries from China and Japan for the cars that it assembles in USA, but is preparing for potential tariffs under Trump, Nikkei noted.
The move to source batteries in the U.S. would mark Honda's latest step to shield itself from a possible tariff war.
Honda decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling models, people familiar with its plans told Reuters earlier this month.