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While Toyota posted record first-half sales for 2025, Nissan has just experienced its first quarterly operating loss in more than four years. It’s a tale of two very different Japanese automakers on divergent paths as we wonder if they’ll ever become bitter rivals again.
GM is facing another class action lawsuit over its V8 engines.
Because rumors abounded back in May that Toyota might swoop in and save beleaguered Nissan, the divergent paths of the two is fascinating to see. That’s especially true for those who remember two-plus decades ago the acrimony these two harbored for each other. How times change.
According to Toyota, global sales for the first half of 2025 increased 7.4 percent as over 5.5 million units were sold, setting a new company record. The automaker had to step up production 8.8 percent to keep up with the strong demand, which Toyota attributes much of it to interest in hybrids.
On the flip side, Nissan took it on the kisser, reporting that last quarter lost $534.5 million. While that sounds horrible, there’s a silver lining: analysts were expecting the automaker to lose even more.
The losses were attributed to low sales, restructuring costs, and the ongoing trade wars.
What helped staunch the financial bleeding was aggressive cost cutting, which includes closing seven plants and laying off 15 percent of its global workforce. The latest cut is the shuttering of its plan in Civac, Mexico by March 2026. Its facility in Aguascalientes will take on what the other factory was doing.
While many news outlets focused on the effects of President Trump’s tariffs on both automakers, they seemed to ignore the fact both Toyota and Nissan assemble many vehicles sold here within the country’s borders.
In fact, Toyota even stepped up production of hybrid transaxles at its West Virginia plant, sidestepping tariffs for importing units made in Japan.
Image via Toyota, Nissan
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