Akio Toyoda is a man not afraid to shock, with his latest stunt leaving heads shaking. But there could be a method to his madness.
At a race held earlier this month in Japan, the chairman of Toyota (TM) held a NASCAR-themed celebration featuring top drivers, American flags, and even an appearance from US Ambassador George Glass. It also featured Toyoda sporting a MAGA hat and a Trump-Vance election T-shirt and driving an F-150 pickup on the track.
Toyoda wanted to show that Japan and Toyota support American racing and culture. But he may have been playing to an audience of one: Donald Trump.
‘Go out and buy a Toyota’
“I’m not here to argue whether tariffs are good or bad. Every national leader wants to protect their own auto industry,” Toyoda said before the event, per Automotive News. “We are exploring ways to make tariffs a winner for everyone. The people we want most to be winners are our customers.”
President Trump may be wondering if Toyoda borrowed a White House speechwriter. The Akio Toyoda spectacle comes on the heels of the Japanese automaker announcing a $10 billion US investment plan, set across several factories it operates in the US to expand its stateside production. It’s basically the result of a game plan Trump said would happen all along.
Prior to Toyota’s official confirmation of the spending plan, Trump claimed he had been told Toyota was going to be setting up factories “all over” the US “to the tune of over $10 billion.”
“Go out and buy a Toyota,” Trump said.
Toyota is still making money despite the tariff hit, but the company knows it needs to be in Trump’s good graces to maintain the status quo.
“Toyota promised ‘up to $10 billion’ in U.S. investment over the next five years, some of which was always necessary and some of which will never happen. [Toyoda] has read President Trump’s playbook and understands what makes him happy,” AutoForecast Solutions manufacturing expert Sam Fiorani said to Yahoo Finance.
By announcing “new” investment in the US that was already likely to happen — and couching it as an investment — Toyota handed Trump a win he so desperately needed. As polls show, Americans blame the president for higher prices.
Toyota CEO Koji Sato sees his boss’s moves as pragmatic.
“When you think about the decisions that Akio Toyoda makes, it is not based on mere economic logic. He has this strong belief when he makes decisions. It’s about: ‘Will this be the best for our customers,” he said to Automotive News. “Stakeholders may say many things, but he always sticks to this principle and belief.”
Toyota’s near-term investments announced last week of $912 million and 252 new jobs added across five plants in the US show the initial path Toyota is taking — one that’s not the huge blast of investment that Trump and the White House want right away.
Fiorani is skeptical that the full amount will be spent at all, with jobs like those in Canada and Mexico not coming to the US. “In Toyota’s plan, announcing investments in the U.S. will help keep the administration happy. Until a new USMCA is negotiated next year, there’s no reason to move production from Mexico or Canada.”
That’s because the original USMCA agreement is up for formal review in 2026, which the Brookings Institution said could lead to renegotiations to update the pact and address compliance issues.
But that’s a battle for another day. Until then, Toyota will keep plugging along, selling record numbers of vehicles and still profiting despite tariffs, with chairman Akio Toyoda doing his best Uncle Sam impression and spinning the status quo like a PR vet.
“Toyoda and the team at Toyota want to make sure the Trump administration has a win. Toyota updating plants, adding 252 jobs, and shifting hybrid Corolla production from Japan allows them to claim that win,” Fiorani said.
