Kawasaki signals price hikes for motorbikes to offset tariffs
Kawasaki Heavy Industries will have to raise the prices of its high-end motorcycles if it wants to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs.
The company’s motorbikes rely on engines and other components delivered from Japan, making them subject to U.S. President Donald Trump’s import duties, Chief Executive Officer Yoshinori Kanehana said in an interview Monday. The tariffs may also affect its plans to hire around 4,000 workers in Nebraska, he said.
Shifting the cost of the tariffs to customers would mean a price increase of about 17%, Kanehana said.
While that would reduce sales, he noted that the price hikes would mostly involve its bigger, expensive models. "The rich people will buy it,” he said.
Kawasaki Heavy is widely known for its popular motorbikes, but its business spans naval frigate engines to subway cars. Its aerospace unit has proved a bright spot, recently helping boost second-quarter earnings.
The company makes fuselages for Boeing’s 787 and 737 passenger jets, and wants to expand production capacity, Kanehana said.
"I don’t want to say how much but it is big money,” he said, referring to potential investment plans. "As far as Boeing is concerned, we want to build another factory.”
