The Trump administration's tariffs are starting to hit the toy industry, and that includes Hot Wheels.
Most of Mattel's toy cars are made in Malaysia, the site of the largest Hot Wheels factory in the world.
Currently, Hot Wheels have bucked inflation to cost about the same as they did in 1968, but that may change with supply line challenges.
One of the small pleasures in life when running the usual errands is seeing a cool Hot Wheels hanging on the peg and adding it to your grocery basket. Um, to bring home to your children, of course. But, due to the Trump administration's current tariffs, little cars could be getting a little more expensive.
Currently, they're a bite-sized die-cast treat—again, for the kids, honestly—and at barely over a dollar from most places these days, a fairly guilt-free one. Hot Wheels aren't fattening, they don't require much parking space, and there's always something interesting and unexpected in the pipeline. A scale model of the Espace minivan Renault stuffed a Formula 1 V10 into? Gotta have that. The kids'll love it once I explain to them what it is, at considerable length.
Hot Wheels Prices on the Rise?
Hot Wheels cost just under a dollar when launched in 1968, which is creeping up to nearly $10 with today's inflation. And yet, the little toy cars are still very affordable. There's a premium line that costs more, but the regular mainstream cars are still barely a rounding error on the weekly grocery bill.
Part of keeping prices down has involved keeping the design team on this side of the Pacific but sending the manufacturing overseas. Mattel started doing this in the 1970s, primarily in Hong Kong, but today most Hot Wheels are made in Malaysia, which boasts the largest Hot Wheels factory in the world.
This longtime connection with Malaysia is important enough that Hot Wheels even tipped its hat to the country, making a scale-sized version of a red Proton Saga sedan part of its mainline toys last year. The Saga is to Malaysia what the Volvo 240 is to Sweden, a long-running nameplate that's pretty basic but built in such huge quantities that it's become part of the national character.
Unfortunately, building toy cars overseas and importing them into the United States is going to run afoul of the tariffs put into place this year. The entire toy industry is reporting disruptions to manufacturing supply lines, and some are responding by raising prices, as well as diversifying those supply chains.
Mattel's official response is that maintaining affordability is still a key part of the company's plans. The expected hit of the tariffs as they currently sit is $100 million for 2025. Quarterly sales and net income are reportedly down by 6 percent each, though this seems to be driven by worried retailers cutting back on ordering.
There are no specific tariff-related changes planned for the Hot Wheels lineup, but prices could go up in the future. Even still, the company's die-cast models will still provide outsized fun per dollar. For the kids.
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