US vehicle sales by the Japanese companies rose 4.5 % from a year earlier to some 1.5 million units.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales increased 0.9 % to 570,269 units. Sales of Toyota's Tacoma pickup truck, assembled in Mexico and imported into the United States, nearly tripled to 59,825 units.
"Some customers took tariffs into account in deciding whether to buy," a company official said.
The company saw sales of its flagship RAV4 SUV fall 7.5 % to 115,402 units.
Sales at Honda Motor Co. grew 5.3 % to 351,577 units.
Those of Its HR-V SUV, manufactured in Mexico, expanded 7.6 % to 40,944 units.
Those of the CR-V, a popular SUV, climbed 8.7 % to 103,325 units.
Nissan Motor Co.'s sales went up 5.7 % to 267,085 units thanks to strong demand for inexpensive models.
Subaru Corp. saw its sales expand 9.1 % to 166,957 units, and sales at Mazda Motor Corp. rose 10.2 % to 110,316 units. Sales at Mitsubishi Motors Corp. climbed 11.4 % to 31,637 units.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo by Reuters