Tokyo (Reuters) – Toyota plans to produce in the United States the next generation of its RAV4, its best -selling SUV on the American market, three sources close to the file told Reuters.

The automaker thus becomes the last to rethink its supply chain in order to mitigate the impact of American customs duties on imported vehicles.

Toyota manufactures the current version of the popular SUV in Kentucky, Canada and Japan. Toyota had initially planned to export the new RAV4 to the United States from Canada and Japan, but now plans to produce it in Kentucky, these sources said, which wanted to remain anonymous due to the confidentiality of information.

The opening of a production line in the United States would reduce the impact of customs duties of 25% imposed by President Donald Trump on imported cars, while avoiding potentially higher costs linked to Yen fluctuations, added two of these sources.

Toyota plans to unveil a reworked RAV4 2026, its first overhaul since 2019, later this year, before a gradual launch in the world markets, according to one of sources. The manufacturer has not yet specified the launching calendar in the United States.

Toyota has not yet finalized its production plans, the sources said. Any modification cannot be implemented quickly and requires long -term planning, explained one of them, due to the tedious and expensive work implies the re -equipment of factories and the adjustment of supply chains.

If the automaker continues its project in Kentucky, production could start in 2027, added one of these sources. Whatever the outcome, the overall production of Toyota vehicles in Canada should be maintained, according to sources.

Toyota told Reuters that he continued to constantly examine the means to optimize his production in order to better serve his customers and guarantee stable jobs to his employees.

“We have nothing to announce at the moment and we will not comment on speculation,” said Toyota when Reuters questioned the group on the production projects of the new version of the Rav4 in Kentucky.

The RAV4 was the best-selling vehicle in the United States last year, going beyond the Ford F-15 Pick-up, according to Jato Dynamics. The Japanese manufacturer sold more than 475,000 RAV4 in the United States last year, which represents a fifth of its total vehicle sales in this country.

The exact amount of new RAV4 that Toyota will produce in the United States remains uncertain. Toyota has 11 factories in the United States, including spare parts production sites, and made nearly 1.3 million vehicles in 2024, more than half of its 2.3 million cars sales in the United States.

Toyota had announced this month having intended to continue to carry out its activities normally and to focus on reducing fixed costs, without taking more radical measures, such as the increase in vehicle prices in response to customs duties.

(Maki Shiraki report, Elena Smirnova, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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