Toyota, Honda and Nissan will avoid any EV assembly-line halt through year-end despite Japan's rare earth crunch.

All three have spent nearly a decade developing motor designs that reduce or eliminate heavy rare earth content, giving them a partial buffer against a shortage that saw Japan's dysprosium imports collapse 82% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, hitting zero in four separate months. That head start, not the severity of the shortage itself, is what keeps assembly lines running even as Tokyo's diplomatic standoff with Beijing over Taiwan shows no sign of easing.