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And it'll cost more. Trump will say it's a win. But other countries will get cheaper Hondas. American consumers lose out in the end.

alephnerd 2y ago
Honda has been working on moving much of it's supply chain to the US for a long time - they have multiple factories across Ohio and Alabama. In 2023, they announced that they were moving all Honda Accord manufacturing to the US [0], and their prices haven't changed significantly either ($27,615 in 2022 to $28,295 in 2025 compared to median household incomes rising from $74,755 in 2022 to $77,719 in 2023 - 2024 and 2025 numbers aren't out yet). Most base model products won't see significant prices changes due to price elasticity of demand and better in built margins, but mid-upper tier products will see prices soar because the customer base targeted with those products tend to have a greater tolerance to price increases. The biggest pain will be bore by dealerships, as manufacturers finance cars to them at a wholesale rate, and the dealers set the final list price. As such, they will now have to either reduce their margins or see their local demand leave. [0] - https://www.wdrb.com/news/honda-decides-to-move-all-accord-production-to-indiana-manufacturing-plant/article_89d72f98-c356-11ed-b937-e360bf5f6e81.html https://www.wdrb.com/news/honda-decides-to-move-all-accord-p...
- delfinom 2y ago
  I ponder if it's really because sedan sales have been shrinking YoY to this day and the volume has gotten small enough to cram into a existing factory. Based on some data here https://carfigures.com/us-market-brand/honda/accord https://carfigures.com/us-market-brand/honda/accord (which does come from other sources, this was just the basic tablation I could find) the accord sale numbers are half of their peak only a 6 years ago
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    > I ponder if it's really because sedan sales have been shrinking Nope. It's part of Honda's $4-5 billion US expansion as part of their EV and Hybrid car drive [0][1] which also expanded production output. They're moving their cars to a hybrid and electric first model similar to what Toyota began 4-5 years ago. The Biden era IRA subsidizes were the carrot to help restart domestic automotive investments, and the tariffs shock is the stick to force them to capitalize on those instead of trying to co-mingle parts from other non-NAM locations for better margins. [0] - https://alabamanewscenter.com/2022/10/13/what-does-hondas-4-4-billion-ev-expansion-in-ohio-mean-for-alabama/ https://alabamanewscenter.com/2022/10/13/what-does-hondas-4-... [1] - https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/02/hondas-new-ev-production-revolution-begins-with-1-billion-in-ohio.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/02/hondas-new-ev-production...
rayiner 2y ago
> it'll cost more... American consumers lose out in the end So does minimum wages, worker protections, paid family leave, taxes on corporate income, etc. America isn't just an economy populated by "consumers."
- lazyeye 2y ago
  Yes well said. Although at some point these factories will become almost fully automated. But regardless, better to have them in the US than China.
  - rayiner 2y ago
    Yes they will. But then we’ll have them, and there will be jobs making the robots and maintaining the factories here. Also, when AI replaces knowledge economy jobs, we’ll want the “stuff making robots” in America not China. If AI makes our knowledge industry exports obsolete, then we’ll be really fucked if China has the robots that make stuff.

alephnerd 2y ago

Honda has been working on moving much of it's supply chain to the US for a long time - they have multiple factories across Ohio and Alabama. In 2023, they announced that they were moving all Honda Accord manufacturing to the US [0], and their prices haven't changed significantly either ($27,615 in 2022 to $28,295 in 2025 compared to median household incomes rising from $74,755 in 2022 to $77,719 in 2023 - 2024 and 2025 numbers aren't out yet). Most base model products won't see significant prices changes due to price elasticity of demand and better in built margins, but mid-upper tier products will see prices soar because the customer base targeted with those products tend to have a greater tolerance to price increases. The biggest pain will be bore by dealerships, as manufacturers finance cars to them at a wholesale rate, and the dealers set the final list price. As such, they will now have to either reduce their margins or see their local demand leave. [0] - https://www.wdrb.com/news/honda-decides-to-move-all-accord-production-to-indiana-manufacturing-plant/article_89d72f98-c356-11ed-b937-e360bf5f6e81.html https://www.wdrb.com/news/honda-decides-to-move-all-accord-p...

delfinom 2y ago
I ponder if it's really because sedan sales have been shrinking YoY to this day and the volume has gotten small enough to cram into a existing factory. Based on some data here https://carfigures.com/us-market-brand/honda/accord https://carfigures.com/us-market-brand/honda/accord (which does come from other sources, this was just the basic tablation I could find) the accord sale numbers are half of their peak only a 6 years ago
- alephnerd 2y ago
  > I ponder if it's really because sedan sales have been shrinking Nope. It's part of Honda's $4-5 billion US expansion as part of their EV and Hybrid car drive [0][1] which also expanded production output. They're moving their cars to a hybrid and electric first model similar to what Toyota began 4-5 years ago. The Biden era IRA subsidizes were the carrot to help restart domestic automotive investments, and the tariffs shock is the stick to force them to capitalize on those instead of trying to co-mingle parts from other non-NAM locations for better margins. [0] - https://alabamanewscenter.com/2022/10/13/what-does-hondas-4-4-billion-ev-expansion-in-ohio-mean-for-alabama/ https://alabamanewscenter.com/2022/10/13/what-does-hondas-4-... [1] - https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/02/hondas-new-ev-production-revolution-begins-with-1-billion-in-ohio.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/02/hondas-new-ev-production...

rayiner 2y ago

> it'll cost more... American consumers lose out in the end So does minimum wages, worker protections, paid family leave, taxes on corporate income, etc. America isn't just an economy populated by "consumers."

lazyeye 2y ago
Yes well said. Although at some point these factories will become almost fully automated. But regardless, better to have them in the US than China.
- rayiner 2y ago
  Yes they will. But then we’ll have them, and there will be jobs making the robots and maintaining the factories here. Also, when AI replaces knowledge economy jobs, we’ll want the “stuff making robots” in America not China. If AI makes our knowledge industry exports obsolete, then we’ll be really fucked if China has the robots that make stuff.