Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, told CNBC on Thursday that when its U.S. affiliate raised prices in July, it was “not in response to the tariffs or prospects of increases, but rather a regular, annual price increase to reflect increases in various operational costs.”

“We have said that we would observe the situation concerning the tariffs as governments were still negotiating then, but our general stance was not to increase prices to avoid making our cars unaffordable for the customers waiting for their vehicles,” the company added.

Reuters reported in June Toyota’s plan to increase prices by an average of $270 in July, but a Toyota spokesperson also denied then that the hikes were a direct result of U.S. tariffs.

In its financial results for the first quarter ended June 2025 — Toyota had estimated the impact of U.S. tariffs to be 450 billion yen ($3.03 billion) in its first quarter, and projected it would be 1.4 trillion yen for the full year, taking the U.S.-Japan trade deal into account.

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