logo
Big automakers report U.S. sales jump on pre-tariff consumer surge

Big automakers report U.S. sales jump on pre-tariff consumer surge

Japan Today3 days ago
Ford Motor Company President and CEO Jim Farley stands between the Ford Mustang RTR (L) and the Ford Mustang GTD at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show
By John BIERS
Several leading automakers including Detroit giants General Motors and Ford have reported increased U.S. car sales in the second quarter as consumers fast-forwarded purchases ahead of tariffs.
Sales were particularly brisk early in the quarter as expectations of President Donald Trump's coming tariffs dominated the news. Besides the U.S. companies, Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda and South Korean brands Kia and Hyundai all reported increased sales compared with the 2024 stretch.
"They were able to capitalize on the tariff-induced fear and that drove sales, especially in the early part of the quarter," said Garrett Nelson, equity analyst at CFRA Research.
While the auto industry has been near the center of Trump's efforts to reset global trade, consumers have yet to see significant price increases due to tariffs.
That is because companies have relied on existing inventories that include vehicles imported before tariffs took effect. Prices are expected to rise more in the second half of 2025, but market demand and supply forces could constrain such hikes, analysts said.
GM notched a 7.3 percent rise in vehicle deliveries to 746,588 behind a continued solid performance in pickup trucks and SUVs, as well as good sales of models geared towards customers seeking affordable vehicles.
These include the Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Trax, a lower-priced vehicle imported from South Korea.
Ford, meanwhile, scored a 14.2 percent jump in sales to 612,095, reflecting the boon from a popular program that offered customers employee pricing on many models.
Most of Ford's leading vehicles saw higher sales, including the best-selling pickup F-series, as well as the Ford Explorer SUV.
While Ford had lower sales of its all-electric F-150 Lightning Truck and the Mustang Mach-E, it reported a jump in hybrid vehicle sales.
Higher sales had been expected for both companies, but the increases were slightly more than projected by analysts at Edmunds.com.
At Toyota, sales jumped 7.2 percent to 666,470 autos, with double digit gains in several vehicles, including the Toyota Camry sedan and the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.
Honda, Kia and Hyundai reported quarterly sales increases of between five and 10 percent.
But Nissan reported a 6.5 percent drop in quarterly sales to 221,441, while Jeep-owner Stellantis was projected by Edmunds to have a 12.8 percent drop to just over 300,000 vehicles.
The United States imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported finished cars in early April.
The Trump administration also enacted a 25 percent tariff on imported auto parts in early May, although White House officials allowed a two-year grace period and stipulated that automakers would not face duplicative tariffs due to a 25 percent levy on imported steel and aluminum.
While retail car prices have not risen significantly, analysts at Cox Automotive last week pointed to a recent ebbing in dealer incentives as evidence of a somewhat tighter market.
Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke has projected an eight percent rise in prices due to tariffs, adding that "we don't think consumers or fleet buyers are able and willing to accept that added cost," he said at a briefing last week.
Smoke predicted that uncertainty about the economy and whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates could lead many buyers to defer purchases.
Nelson said automakers have to be "very careful" with price hikes.
"Things have cooled off from where they were at the beginning of the quarter," he said. "Everything we're seeing suggests that consumers are still very price sensitive."
© 2025 AFP
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party
Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party

Japan Times

timean hour ago

  • Japan Times

Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party

Elon Musk, an ex-ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's "one-party system." The world's richest person — and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election — had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has clashed with Trump over the president's massive domestic spending plan, saying it would explode the U.S. debt, and vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. Now he has created the so-called America Party, his own political framework, through which to try and achieve that. "When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." Musk cited a poll — uploaded on Friday, U.S. Independence Day — in which he asked whether respondents "want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system" that has dominated U.S. politics for some two centuries. The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses. "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!" he posted on Saturday. Musk also shared a meme depicting a two-headed snake and the caption "End the Uniparty." It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 midterm elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting "debt slavery." He vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the U.S. deficit. "They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk said last week. After Musk heavily criticized the flagship spending bill — which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law — Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses. "We'll have to take a look," the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held U.S. citizenship since 2002. On Friday after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House and Senate seats and become "the deciding vote" on key legislation. "One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," Musk posted on X. All 435 U.S. House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years. Some observers were quick to point out how third-party campaigns have historically split the vote — as businessman Ross Perot's independent presidential run in 1992 did when it helped doom George H.W. Bush's re-election bid resulting in Democrat Bill Clinton's victory. "You are pulling a Ross Perot, and I don't like it," one X user wrote to Musk.

Elon Musk says 'America Party' is formed after Trump feud
Elon Musk says 'America Party' is formed after Trump feud

Nikkei Asia

time2 hours ago

  • Nikkei Asia

Elon Musk says 'America Party' is formed after Trump feud

Elon Musk speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 30. © Reuters (Reuters) -- A day after asking his followers on X whether a new U.S. political party should be created, Elon Musk said on Saturday that the "America Party is formed." "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!" he said in a post on X. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom." The announcement from Musk comes after President Donald Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla fiercely opposed. Musk spent hundreds of millions on Trump's re-election and led the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration aimed at slashing government spending, but the two have since fallen out over disagreements about the bill. Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government. Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill. Republicans have expressed concern that Musk's on-again, off-again feud with Trump could hurt their chances to protect their majority in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

Japan's Lawson to start car camping business on store parking lots
Japan's Lawson to start car camping business on store parking lots

Nikkei Asia

time3 hours ago

  • Nikkei Asia

Japan's Lawson to start car camping business on store parking lots

A Lawson parking lot in Chiba Prefecture where an overnight car stay service will begin. KAI ISHIZAKI TOKYO -- Japanese convenience store group Lawson will launch a car camping business that utilizes parking lots in its nationwide network of thousands of stores, Nikkei has learned. The service provides an option for guests who are attending events in rural and suburban areas, where hotel accommodation fees remain high as more tourists flood the country.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store