Here's Another Look At How Tariffs Could Affect New-Car Pricing

by Tim Healey

Published: March 28th, 2025

here s another look at how tariffs could affect new car pricing

We've already done this once, but that was for a different set of tariffs. Now President Donald Trump has new tariffs on foreign cars and parts set to go into effect next week.

Let's take another peek at some data, thanks to Cox Automotive.

It might seem like the math is simple -- a 25-percent tariff on a $50,000 car would add $12,500 to the price. But automakers might be willing to absorb some cost in order to move metal. Not only that, but car sales don't happen in a vacuum -- automakers need to adjust to the competition's pricing and what consumers will be willing to pay.

Further adding to the confusion is that even vehicles built on American soil might be affected. Some parts come in from overseas and will be slapped with tariffs -- and that will affect the price of cars that would otherwise seem immune to tariffs.

It's hard to predict exact numbers -- but one stands out. That's $5,300 -- affordable cars under $30,000 could have the price increase by that amount.

Other numbers that stood out -- the average transaction price of a new car might finally leapfrog past $50,000, according to Cox. And the seasonally adjusted annual rate forecast of 15.9 million units might be adjusted downward.

One Cox employee posted on LinkedIn that 40 percent of vehicles with a starting price of under $40,000 will be impacted and 10 of the 20 vehicles with a starting price under $30K will see significant impact.

Still, it's hard to say with certainty how much the price of a new car will increase. That said, one thing is certain -- the price will go up.

[Image: Robert V Schwemmer/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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6 of 75 comments

Stellantis Guy on Mar 30, 2025

TTAC arithmetic:
• Every part on every vehicle crosses an international border a minimum of 7 times during the assembly process
• MSRP = Cost [cannot type this with a straight face]
• Cost = Raw Materials + Components [pretend there are no other costs lol]
• Every cost component of every vehicle on sale will be tariffed at exactly 25% per crossing [how does dealer prep cross a border, answer, it crosses seven times, just go with it lol]
• 7 * 25% = 175%
• MSRP of every vehicle on sale in the U.S. will increase to 2.75 times what it is now, starting 3 days from now. (at least, probably much worse)

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- See 3 previous
- Stellantis Guy on Mar 30, 2025
  
  Effect of tariffs: At $35,555, TG will purchase exactly zero 2025 Maverick XLT. At $97,776, TG will purchase exactly zero 2025 Maverick XLT. Conclusion: Tariffs have no effect on purchasing behavior. 😉
  
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- EBFlexing on ur mom on Mar 31, 2025
  
  Great breakdown TG
  
  Like
- Stellantis Guy on Mar 31, 2025
  
  1.25 ^ 7 = 477%
  That Maverick will cost $169,539, and will be worth every penny (to someone, not to me).
  
  1
- Stellantis Guy on Mar 31, 2025
  
  EBFlex my breakdowns are happening more and more often, thank you for being there with your tenuous hold on reality. 😅
  
  1
Daniel J on Mar 31, 2025

What I found so interesting was on Car and Driver they had a list of where most cars are made, and very few "American" cars are made here.

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