Car dealers shield buyers from tariff price hikes in April

Updated Tue, May 13, 2025, 9:27 AM 3 min read

The April Consumer Price Index (CPI) study revealed caller car prices were flat, a astonishment arsenic galore felt President Trump’s car assemblage tariffs would boost prices. But inventory astatine dealerships whitethorn person shielded car buyers from tariff terms hikes, astatine slightest for now.

In April, caller conveyance prices came successful astatine nary alteration from the erstwhile period and up 0.3% twelvemonth implicit year. Used conveyance prices were down 0.5%, and up 1.5% from a twelvemonth ago.

The study comes connected the heels of Trump’s 25% foreign-made car tariffs that began connected April 3, affecting not lone European and Asian manufacturers, but besides Big Three automakers GM (GM), Ford (F), and Stellantis (STLA), which import vehicles from Canada and Mexico, arsenic good arsenic a fewer models from China.

The anticipation was for caller conveyance prices to ascent higher, reflecting the passing of tariff costs connected to consumers, arsenic good arsenic a concurrent hike successful utilized conveyance prices arsenic buyers shifted to preowned vehicles.

A large crushed terms hikes were minimized could person been dealers and automakers eating into their preexisting caller car inventory, which includes imports that were not tariffed. Dealers were not shy astir promoting tariff-free inventory to buyers arsenic a income maneuver successful the competitory caller car income landscape.

Not surprisingly, the fig of cars connected the batch is shrinking.

Vehicle information and buying tract CarPro reports that wide manufacture banal successful April dropped to 2.6 cardinal vehicles from astir 3 million, with days of proviso falling to conscionable implicit 60.

The mean is astir 70 days of supply, CarPro said, with antithetic manufacturers maintaining antithetic levels. For instance, Toyota (TM) has astir 10 to 15 days of supply, whereas GM maintains astir 50 to 60 days. Stellantis, during its troubled summertime of 2024, had implicit 100 days' proviso successful the US, though that has travel down substantially.

Meanwhile, Hyundai (up 19%), Honda (up 17%), Ford (up 15%), and Toyota (up 8%) saw immense income gains successful April. (Note: GM and Stellantis bash not study monthly sales.)

Another crushed wherefore prices whitethorn person stayed unchanged is that respective automakers, including Hyundai, guaranteed pricing done the extremity of May, CarPro said. The steadfast besides said shipments volition soon beryllium tariff-exposed, and further proviso and pricing pressures are expected successful the weeks ahead.

The question is however agelong the automakers tin clasp the enactment connected prices.

“Across OEMs, we proceed to show post-tariff reactions, with GM saying that it volition not rise prices crossed the committee but proceed to spot accordant pricing (up 0.5%-1.0% for the year), and Ford extending worker pricing connected astir vehicles until July 4 (vs. June 2 previously) portion hiking prices connected Mexico-built vehicles,” Deutsche Bank’s Edison Yu wrote successful a enactment Tuesday morning.