By Nathan Gomes (Reuters) -U.S. buyers snapped up more pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles in the first quarter from a year earlier in the run-up to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports, which could raise prices by thousands of dollars. General Motors topped the list with a 17% jump in sales, aided by demand […]
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US first-quarter auto sales get a lift from looming Trump tariffs
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By Nathan Gomes
(Reuters) -U.S. buyers snapped up more pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles in the first quarter from a year earlier in the run-up to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports, which could raise prices by thousands of dollars.
General Motors topped the list with a 17% jump in sales, aided by demand for its affordable crossover SUVs, such as the Chevrolet Trax, manufactured in South Korea.
Meanwhile, first-quarter electric vehicle sales rose 19.2%, according to Wards Intelligence, even as Tesla is expected to report a decline in deliveries amid weakening demand for its aging lineup and a growing backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s politics.
“Automotive tariffs — now set to take effect on April 2 — might have pulled ahead some vehicle purchases in Q1,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at automotive data provider Edmunds, before the data release on Tuesday.
President Trump’s planned 25% levies on auto imports are due to be collected from April 3 and carmakers are weighing whether and by how much to raise prices.
The tariffs could also reduce the number of lower-cost imported vehicles in the market, such as Ford’s compact Maverick pickup truck, further straining affordability as the average new-vehicle price nears $50,000.
“Many cars would see drastic overnight price increases almost by necessity — and that unquestionably would cause a decline in sales,” said auction site owner Doug Demuro, referring to the tariffs.
Crosstown rival Ford Motor reported a 1.3% drop in sales, citing the discontinuation of some models and the timing of certain rental fleet sales. Toyota Motor’s North American unit reported a rise of about 1%.
Asian automakers Hyundai, Mazda and Honda also reported higher quarterly sales.
“The last week, and including this past weekend, was by far the best weekend that I’ve seen in a very long time,” Hyundai Motor North America CEO Randy Parker said Tuesday.
“So lots of people, I think, rushed in this weekend, especially, to try and beat the tariffs.”
Overall, U.S. new vehicle sales in the quarter finished at around 3.91 million units, up 4.8% from last year, according to data released by Wards Intelligence on Tuesday.
“The potential for higher inflation due to new tariffs at American borders will all potentially hold back new-vehicle sales in 2025,” market research firm Cox Automotive said.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru and Nora Eckert in Detroit; additional reporting by Shivansh Tiwary; editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Alan Barona)