Some Japanese vehicles are set to get a whole lot cheaper for car buyers in Europe than they have been until now thanks to the European Union and Japan signing a trade agreement.
It will also be good news for anyone in the business of supplying models from Japanese manufacturers, although it won't see the price of Japanese cars and SUVs drop across the board.
Until now, imported Japanese cars had a 10 per cent tariff imposed on them by the EU, and there was also a three per cent tariff on parts. These tariffs will no longer apply, with the tariffs to be reduced to zero over eight years, but anyone assuming there will be a 10 per cent drop in the price of Japanese vehicles in general may be more than a touch disappointed.
On the face of things, Japanese cars are already pretty popular in Europe, particularly Toyotas and Hondas, so a major reduction in the price of these models would only see Europeans buying more of them, right? Well, yes, it's a fair assumption, but for many models it won't happen.
The reason is that a large number of the most popular models sold in Europe by Japanese manufacturers are built in Europe, and therefore don't attract the 10 per cent external tariff in the first place.
In fact, there are very few of the bigger-selling Japanese vehicles in Europe that are still built in Japan and exported into the EU. For example, the Toyota Yaris is built in France, the Toyota Auris is built in the U.K. and the Toyota Aygo is built in the Czech Republic. Likewise, the Honda Civic and Honda CR-V are both built in the U.K.
However, if you fancy something a little more upscale, such as a Lexus, the majority of Lexus models sold in Europe are still built in Japan, and should therefore see a reduction in their price. Subaru is another manufacturer that doesn't assemble its cars in Europe so if an Impreza is on your list of potential buys, you could be saving some money in the future.
But just because a Japanese car isn't made in Europe it doesn't mean it will necessarily cost less. That's because Japanese manufacturers also have a lot of manufacturing infrastructure in Southeast Asia and North, South and Central America, where tariffs still apply.
