Trump’s Tariffs Will Be Very Upsetting for Luxury Automakers
President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Wednesday affecting the vast majority of American trading partners, following on previously announced tariffs on lots of imports, with possibly devastating effects on the American wine industry, among numerous others.
The tariffs also impact new cars, which are to get a 25 percent tariff on imports starting this week. How that will shake out in terms of prices customers pay is, at this point, almost anyone’s guess, since manufacturers will likely decide based on their own internal calculations, but experts have said that prices for customers are all but certain to go up. Ferrari, which builds all of its cars in Italy, recently said it would eat some of the cost of the tariffs while also raising prices on a few of its models as a result, to take one example.
For luxury cars, many of which are made overseas, the tariffs will be particularly significant. Like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati also make every car for sale in the U.S. in Italy, while Lexus imports many of its models for sale in the U.S. from Japan. Numerous Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, and Audi models are built overseas, to name just a few others. Each luxury automaker will have to recalibrate, and it’s even possible that some marques might abandon the American market altogether.
Below is a rundown of every luxury automaker in the American market, which models it makes overseas, which it makes in the U.S., and, thus, which cars might be the most affected by tariffs. Some automakers and dealers have already reported customers rushing in to buy new cars ahead of the tariffs, which look set to complicate the new luxury car buying picture for the foreseeable future.
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Acura
Image Credit: Chris Tedesco Acura may be owned by Japan’s largest automaker, Toyota, but it’s a brand that has primarily been used to sell cars in the U.S. dating back to its launch in 1986. The brand’s entire lineup is produced in the U.S., with the exception of the ADX, which is built in Mexico.
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Alfa Romeo
Image Credit: Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo builds all of its cars and SUVs in Italy.
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Aston Martin
Image Credit: Aston Martin Few marques take as much pride in their national identity as Britain’s Aston Martin. As such, the 113-year-old automaker builds every single one of its models, including the DBX super SUV, in the U.K.
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Audi
Image Credit: Audi AG Audi will feel the full brunt of Trump’s controversial tariff strategy. The automaker, which is based out of Ingolstadt, Germany, makes all of its cars and SUVs, including those with fully electric powertrains, in its native country.
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Bentley
Image Credit: Bentley Bentley, which is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG-owned Audi, builds every example of the Bentayga, Continental GT, and Flying Spur at the company’s headquarters in Crewe, England.
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Bugatti
Image Credit: Bugatti Bugatti builds every one of its hypercars at its atelier in Molsheim, France.
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Buick
Image Credit: Buick With the exception of the brand’s best-selling model, the Michigan-built Enclave, the company’s lineup is produced in either China or South Korea.
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BMW
Image Credit: Uwe Fischer/BMW BMW announced in mid-March that it plans to absorb the increased cost on models made in Mexico, like the 2- and 3-series, through May 1, though it has yet to say if it will do the same for vehicles made in Germany. The company’s SUVs, including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM are all built at the brand’s factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
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Cadillac
Image Credit: Cadillac Cadillac builds the majority of its current vehicles, including the Escalade, in America, but one of its new EVs, the Optiq, is manufactured in Mexico.
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Genesis
Image Credit: Genesis The GV70 and GV70 EV SUVs are both built in the U.S., with the rest of its lineup built in South Korea.
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Ferrari
Image Credit: Amalgam Collection The Maranello-based Ferrari will raise the prices of some models by 10 percent, but it will absorb it for others. Every Ferrari is built in Italy.
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Infiniti
Image Credit: INFINITI Like its parent company, Nissan, Infiniti is based in Japan but builds its vehicles all over the world, including in Mexico. The QX60 is built in the U.S., but the rest of the company’s SUV-only lineup is built abroad.
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Jaguar
Image Credit: Jaguar Jaguar imports the F-Pace into the United States for sale from the United Kingdom, and the F-Pace is the only model Jaguar currently offers in the U.S.
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Lamborghini
Image Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Every Lamborghini is produced in Italy.
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Land Rover
Image Credit: Historics Land Rover’s cars are imported from the United Kingdom and Slovakia for sale in the U.S.
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Lexus
Image Credit: Lexus The TX full-size SUV and ES midsize car are built in the U.S., while the NX and RX, compact SUVs, are mostly made in Canada. Every other Lexus—nine other models including the LX, other NXs, GX, UX, IS, LS, LC, RC, and RZ—is made in Japan.
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Lincoln
Image Credit: Lincoln The Nautilus, a mid-size SUV, is imported from China for sale in the U.S., while the rest of Lincoln’s lineup—including the Navigator full-size SUV, the Corsair compact crossover, and the Aviator midsize SUV—are made in America.
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Lotus
Image Credit: Robb Rice Lotus imports the Emira into the U.S. from the United Kingdom.
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Maserati
Image Credit: Maserati Every Maserati is built in Italy and imported to the U.S. for sale.
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McLaren
Image Credit: Robb Rice Every McLaren is built in the United Kingdom and imported.
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Mercedes-Benz
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Mercedes builds cars for sale in America in South Africa, Hungary, Mexico, Austria, Germany, and in the U.S. The EQS, EQE, GLS, and GLE are all made in the United States while the rest of Mercedes’s cars for sale in the U.S. are built or assembled abroad.
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Porsche
Image Credit: Porsche Every Porsche for sale in the U.S. is imported from Germany or Slovakia.
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Rolls-Royce
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce Every Rolls-Royce is built in the United Kingdom.
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Tesla
Image Credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU Every Tesla for sale in the U.S. is made in the U.S.
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Volvo/Polestar
Image Credit: Volvo Volvo builds the EX40, XC40, V60, EC40, and, eventually, the EX40 in Belgium for import to the U.S., and the S90 is made in China. The XC90, XC60, and V90 are built in Sweden. Volvo builds the S60 and EX90 in America for sale here.
Polestar 3s are made in the U.S. and Polestar 2s are imported from China, along with the Polestar 4.
Authors
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Erik Shilling
