U.S. vehicle sales surge as buyers hope to beat tariff hikes

CBS News

01-05-2025

Southfield, Michigan — Akio Miller and his wife are accelerating their search for an SUV in suburban Detroit, test-driving a new Hyundai that could soon see a price increase due to a 25% tariff.
"With everything going on with the up and down with the tariffs and the car prices, I was like, you know what, we need to probably look, like, sooner than later," Miller told CBS News.
Miller said he "definitely" feels they'll pay more if they wait to purchase a vehicle.
"Cars are already expensive," Miller said. "And then now they're tacking on the extra tariff taxes, I like to call it, it's going to be way out of our price range."
The Millers are not alone. New car sales surged nationwide in March, jumping more than 17% from February, and nearly 12% from March of last year, according to an auto market report from Cox Automotive. Dealer inventory of pre-tariff vehicles also went down 10%, Cox Automotive found.
However, a study released earlier this month by auto data company S&P Global Mobility determined that if the tariffs hold, overall vehicle sales in the U.S. are projected to fall by 700,000 this year and drop by 1.2 million in 2026.
"You got a lot of sales in March that were basically people buying ahead of the tariffs," economist Patrick Anderson told CBS News. "And that means, unfortunately, we're gonna have lower sales later on when those people aren't buying cars that they originally intended to buy."
A 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S. took effect on April 3. President Trump announced on Tuesday that he would provide some relief to U.S. automakers by ensuring they are not also levied with 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Approximately 90% of the parts in a Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan with a sticker price of nearly $51,000 on George Glassman's dealership are manufactured in South Korea. Glassman said this is the kind of vehicle that would see its price rise if the tariffs remain in place.
"No doubt, it would go up," Glassman said. "The question is, to how much it would go up."
This unknown led to a record sales month in March for Glassman's Subaru, Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi dealerships in suburban Detroit.
"We've stocked up in anticipation of higher prices," Glassman told CBS News.
After tariffs take effect, he said, the rise in vehicle prices will be "immediate."
"I don't think there's any doubt about it," Glassman added.
contributed to this report.