With a plaque and a set of keys in his hand, Jerry Chen gets into the new Toyota Highlander that his family decided to buy before the automotive rates of the president of the United States Donald Trump were launched.
Chen and his wife, who have two children, bought the vehicle of a Toyota dealership in Bloomfield Township, a northern suburb of Detroit.
“I am super excited,” Chen said moments before entering the driver’s seat.
CBC News traveled to Michigan’s city due to its great presence in the automotive industry, to find out how consumers and concessionaires are responding to tariffs. Detroit is also in front of Windsor, Ontario, the key player of the Canadian automotive industry that houses giant plants such as Ford and Stellantis.
Cen admitted that the purchase of family highlander was made earlier than originally planned.
“We were a little worried about waiting, you know, six months or a year, without knowing what would happen,” he said, referring to what vehicles could cost in the future.
“In fact, I have been looking for approximately one month, so I think the car itself is excellent and I must have a new car, and with all the rates that happen, I think it is probably a good time to get a new car before prices go up.”
He is not alone. Sales for US vehicles increased more than 10 percent in March compared to the same month last year, according to Cox Automotive and a TD economy report.
The figures were published after Trump announced at the end of March that, as of April 2, his administration would be slapping a 25 percent tariff to imported vehicles that do not fall under the Mexico (Cusma) agreement of Canada and Canada and that 25 percent tariffs would be imposed to certain parts of the car from May 3.
‘Quite good career’ car sales
Bob Page, owner of the Toyota dealership, where the Chen family bought its car, said its sales increased approximately 20 percent this year compared to the same period in previous years.
“In general terms, we have had a pretty good career. And I listen to it throughout the country for the purchase of additional cars. Muding people, people who are thinking of doing so the next two or three months, we are trying to do it now.”
Page also has a Honda dealership about 16 kilometers from Toyota’s business.
In Bloomfield Honda, one of Page’s best sellers, Sean Fathi, said the business has been good.
“In mid -March, when tariffs were announced … we had a great increase in the sale of new cars and many buyers,” Fathi said.
“So now a buyer was approaching in the market within a month; a buyer who was on the market this summer approaches. [further tariffs] It will happen. “
Sales are so good, Fathi said joking CBC that: “I have a vacation … Seeing right now, and I don’t want to go because he has been very busy.”
But Fathi knows that the rise of sales could stop.
“I hope it doesn’t happen because, you know, why should people pay more just for tariffs, just because someone wants to put a tariff on a vehicle? It’s not fair.”
The cars impacted by the rate can cost thousands more
According Anderson Economic GroupTariffs are expected to add $ 2,500 to $ 5,000 US at the price of American vehicles and up to $ 20,000 to some imported models, which costs Americans an estimated $ 30 billion in the first full year.
The general feeling of those that CBC spoke with respect to Trump’s great plan to move the greatest amount of production to the United States as possible was that people do not oppose, but at the same time, they recognize that the change does not happen overnight, and meanwhile, it could damage the economy.
“I feel he is doing it for a reason, and I hope everything works because, you know, it really hasn’t happened. He says he will and then he will not,” Fathi said.
“It’s annoying, but there is a 90 -day break and I hope it helps,” he added. “I just don’t know what is happening, to tell you the truth. I mean, I voted for Trump, but I don’t know what is happening.”
Another owner of the concessionaire, George Glassman, does not complain about the increase in sales now, but cares about the future.
“The concern, the anxiety for what tariffs will mean or could mean, will be in higher prices. Therefore, if someone can buy a car or lease a car today, it is certain of knowing what the cost will be, instead of what is in the future.”
Glassman, a second generation owner of his family’s car Park in the Detroit suburbs, sells new and used vehicles. It has a series of foreign brands, including Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Genesis and Mitsubishi.
“At this time, customers enter, in quite good numbers, to buy pre-tarifa vehicles, which are all cars on the floor,” Glassman said.
During the second week of April, Glassman estimated that he had a vehicle supply without 60 -day rates in his lot.
‘He will take years and years’
According to him Kelley blue bookThe average car brand had a product supply of 91 days and, in the end, was 70 years. The car data provider also says that the rhythm of sales nationwide in March was more than 17 percent faster than in February.
Although tariffs are only in new cars, supply and demand dictate that the supply of used cars will decrease as consumers run to find an affordable vehicle and, therefore, create an increase in these vehicles as well.
There has been an increase in the sale of new cars as drivers rush to anticipate the impact of tariffs, but dealers are preparing for what is coming later. David Common of CBC goes to Detroit to discover how the industry is responding to the incoming tide of higher prices.
Despite uncertainty, Glassman is optimistic that negotiations related to the rate will produce a result with which he can live.
“I don’t think anyone may have necessarily imagined the scope of what is currently happening. And said, I’m still optimistic that there will be negotiations that continue. Do I think there will be rates and there will be some increases in terms of the cost of vehicles? Absolutely?” Absolutely “.
Like others, Glassman sees Trump’s overview, but realizes how long it could take to fruition.
“I don’t think anyone can disagree with the idea, the goal of having more plants in the United States producing more vehicles, but this is not something we are going to see in any short -term period of time. It will take years and years“
Big 3 Automobile manufacturers can suffer more, says the analyst
Jato Dynamics Felipe Muñoz analyst has reduced numbers and argues The three great car manufacturers of Detroit, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, are more exposed to tariffs compared to many foreign brands.
“I would say that it will not be easy for them, especially because some of the products that bring from these two countries, Canada and Mexico, are mainly volume products, and it is difficult to relocate the production of these cars in months. It will not happen. Meanwhile, they will suffer in my opinion,” said Munoz News.
He said that American car manufacturers have been able to produce cheaper cars in Canada and Mexico and sell them with competitive prices in the United States, and “that competitive position they have had for years is now threatening.”
Muñoz also said that although the new commercial policy is aimed at promoting national cars manufacturers, they will be affected due to the lower global presence they have, depending largely on national sales compared to some of the Japanese and European competitors.
At the moment, it is not clear whether the automotive industry will take a break with tariffs, but Trump alluded to one.
April 14, He told reporters In the oval office, “I do not change your opinion, but I am flexible”, creating greater uncertainty in an industry already shaken by the president’s whims.
Until then, it seems that speculation will continue to increase sales.
