Roundup: Tariffs from Trump administration overshadows U.S. car dealers, consumers

The Star

21-04-2025

NEW YORK, Apr. 21 (Xinhua) -- Trump administration's tariffs on imported cars and parts overshadow consumers and dealers at 2025 New York International Auto Show though some consumers' rush to purchase tariff-free automobiles drove up sales in March.
POOR SALES EXPECTED AFTER NEAR-TERM BUMP
The United States saw strong automobile sales in March as consumers rushed to buy before tariffs would kick in but the outlook looks gloomy afterwards.
"The tariffs situation clearly has a major impact as far as affordability for customers," Mark Schienberg, chairman of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association said.
"This is a real global industry, so there's not one source where parts and products come from. They come globally from all over. So, when you talk about the tariffs on it, whether you're a U.S. domestic car manufacturer, or you're an importer, you're gonna have an impact potentially on the costs of building a car. "
Once the tariff kicks in, "we see a major drop off. Unfortunately, I think that we see a real cooling of the projected sales for this year," said Laura Perrotta, president of New Jersey Coalition of Automobile Retailers.
"I'm afraid that we could see a real cut in overall sales for the year," Perrotta told Xinhua on the sidelines of a recent panel discussion during the 2025 New York International Auto Show from April 16 to April 27.
Perrotta said it was pretty bad that sticker prices of each vehicle would increase by 2,000 U.S. dollars to 10,000 U.S. dollars due to tariffs.
S&P Global Mobility downgraded its U.S. sales estimate for cars and light trucks in 2025 by a staggering 700,000 in addition to big cuts of forecasts for 2026 and 2027, according to a report on April 14.
North American production is forecast to fall 1.28 million units to the range of 13.9 million to 14.2 million in 2025, according to S&P Global Mobility.
"The impact of Trump's auto tariffs, in combination with the 10 percent universal tariff, has led to one of the largest single-month changes we've ever made to the forecast," wrote Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst with S&P Global Mobility.
Though sales in March and April would be strong, vehicles are gonna be more expensive by June depending on the brands and the product, the supply chain "tax", according to Perrotta.
"Unfortunately, the consumer is gonna end up having to eat some of the costs because I don't think the manufacturers can absorb all of it," said Perrotta.
"I get material from California. I'm pretty sure they probably get it from China," Julio Palacios, a local auto parts dealer, told Xinhua.
Palacios said the price might have to increase in the future as the tariff war intensifies. "I hope not, but I do believe so," he said.
"We do see the impact of the tariff... A lot of people came in and bought. We haven't raised the price yet, but everything could become more expensive due to tariffs," said a Chevrolet product specialist who only gave his first name as Chris.
"We have many suppliers and partners from China, so this is certainly not what we would like to see," Chris said at the auto show.
Overall sales of luxury brand Porsche are still relatively stable by now, according to Dillon Newell, a product specialist from Porsche.
Newell added, "But we don't rule out the possibility of price increases in the future because of parts price increases."
CONSUMERS PAY THE PRICE
U.S. consumers are expected to pay higher sticker prices of cars due to recently announced tariffs and they also could shun the new car market by buying pre-owned cars or taking a wait-and-see approach.
"The whole tariff situation has been unnecessary and ridiculous. It's poorly thought out," said Manuel Cintron, a resident from Philadelphia, who bought a Lexus IS 500 sedan made in Japan before the Trump administration announced major tariffs on April 2.
However, Cintron didn't get his favorite color of the car because he can't afford to wait for another three to four months.
If it's a two or three percent tariff, he would stomach it, said Cintron. But 25 percent is very "significant", he said.
Affordability is a big issue in the U.S. automobile market, according to Russell Brodin, transportation engineer from Connecticut, who visited the New York auto show on Saturday.
"You could get some of the base models. Toyotas and Nissans were relatively affordable around 30, 000 USD or so. But if you want to get anything kind of decent, you're looking at 40,000 USD to 50,000 USD. I'm still paying off student debt and I have a long (time) from affording a house," Brodin told Xinhua.
Brodin said he was not looking to buy a new car any time soon though has toured the annual auto show in the last five years.
"I see prices probably either coming down or no one's gonna be able to afford these new cars. Everyone's gonna go back to buying old cars," said Brodin, who bought an old car on Facebook marketplace for around 5,000 to 6,000 U.S. dollars a few years ago.
Brodin said tariffs would affect some of vehicle prices and the new car market was going to be tough for the next couple of years amid tariffs, consumers' indebtedness and tepid economy.
"I would give it like three or four years before sales actually come back to full because of that. For my generation, we're drowning in debt.
We can't buy a house. There's no way that we can go and buy a car for 50,000 U.S. dollars," said Brodin who is at the age of 28.
"It's gonna be like another five to six years before I can afford a 50,000-U.S.-dallar car. And by then, they are probably worth 60,000 to 70, 000 (U.S. dollars)," Brodin added.
The U.S. economy is kind of going down and tariffs won't help, added Brandon Wilson, a resident from Connecticut, who visited the auto show for the first time.
Vehicles are "outrageously priced" and the impacts of tariffs have not been reflected yet, said Wilson, who just bought a car not long ago.
"It's a little scary because the prices of cars are going to go up dramatically. I don't know by what percentage, depending on where the car was manufactured," said a visitor to the auto show from New York who gave his first name as Preston.
"I'm not quite sure how much of the tariffs will affect every maker and model and manufacturer. We pretty much have to wait and see," said Preston, who intends to buy a Kia car.