Nissan Americas Head Says Cheap Cars Can’t Be Built in the US

Nissan Motor Co. is pressing officials in Washington to provide tariff relief on cars made in Mexico, arguing it’s needed to preserve affordability as average new car prices hover near record highs.

While Nissan has shifted some vehicle production to help reduce its tariff exposure, it still needs to make entry-level models like the Nissan Sentra compact sedan and Kicks crossover subcompact in Mexico to take advantage of lower labor costs, said Christian Meunier, chairman of Nissan Americas.

“We couldn’t build these entry-level cars in the US at the same cost, we couldn’t do it,” he said at the ...