Two top foreign automakers with a significant presence in the U.S. market posted big profits Thursday, while American automakers face billions in costs from a six-week strike.
Japanese car maker Honda’s profits jumped 34% in the period from July to September compared to a year earlier, while another Japanese auto manufacturer, Nissan, reported an operating profit rise of around 87% for the same period year-over-year, according to the company’s most recent earnings reports. Over this same time period, top American manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, known as the Big Three, were in heated negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) that culminated in a strike, hurting profitability over both the course of negotiations due to uncertainty and the eventual strikes, with the Big Three reporting a collective loss of over $5 billion as a result. (RELATED: Beyond Meat Continues To Hemorrhage Cash As Consumers Sour On Fake Meat)
“We have made substantial year-on-year operating profit improvements in the final year of our Nissan NEXT transformation plan,” Makoto Uchida, Nissan president and CEO, said in the report. “This puts us on track towards delivering our targets and achieving sustainable growth. We are also taking strategic actions to enhance our operations in China, including the launch of four New Energy Vehicles starting from the second half of 2024. Combined, these steps demonstrate continued progress in realizing our long-term vision, Nissan Ambition 2030.”
Nissan’s net income jumped from 17.4 billion yen to 190.7 billion, nearly a 1,000% increase year-over-year for the three months ending September 30. Sales over that same period increased by 25%.
“To me, it’s a new day in the labor movement. These contracts are setting a new standard. I don’t think anyone should underestim ate the power of the movement.”
– @ShawnFainUAW#StandUpUAW https://t.co/NBYV4l4UXb— UAW (@UAW) November 8, 2023
Honda sales in the U.S. specifically rose 52.7% year-over-year from the July to September period, while Japan’s sales increased by only 1.7% and sales in China decreased by 18.7%, according to the report. Sales overall increased 17% over the same period year-over-year.
The estimated economic cost of the strikes by the UAW against the Big Three totaled $10.4 billion after six weeks, according to the Anderson Economic Group. Outside of the Big Three, suppliers lost out on an estimated $3.3 billion as a result of the strike, while dealers, customers and ancillary auto industry workers lost $2 billion.
The union workers at the Big Three won a 25% raise over the course of the four-year and eight-month contract and the return of traditional cost-of-living adjustment. Toyota, another foreign automaker that operates in the U.S., gave American factory workers a 9% pay increase following the UAW contract, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Nissan and Honda did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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