IT Home, April 7th - According to Reuters, facing a short-term car purchasing boom, many automakers have launched promotional activities to attract consumers while warning legislators that if the tariff is not abolished in the long term, vehicle prices will be forced to increase significantly.

Following Ford, Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, also announced that it would extend employee purchase discounts for some new cars to general consumers.

The U.S. government imposes a 25% tariff on car imports and adds a basic tariff of 10% on all imported goods, which has caught global automakers off guard.

As a result, some automakers have suspended operations in Mexico and Canada, leading to layoffs at some supply factories in the United States. Some manufacturers have chosen to increase domestic production capacity to avoid tariffs.

Currently, dealerships and automakers are experiencing a short-term increase in sales due to the "buying spree" brought about by the rush to purchase.

Ivan Drury, head of Edmunds Market Research, pointed out: "If these promotions can attract those consumers with extremely high loyalty, not only will they bring immediate sales, but they may also yield long-term benefits."

Paul Zimmerman, a dealer from Matick Auto Group, said that the sales performance of its General Motors and Toyota stores was impressive at the end of March, with overall sales growth of about 15% year-on-year for the first quarter of the company. He said: "In the past two weeks, customer traffic and sales have obviously increased, and many customers mentioned that they decided to buy cars early out of concern for the tariff."

Nissan announced this week that it will reduce the prices of the 2025 Rogue and Pathfinder models, "to help consumers cope with the current tense car purchasing environment." Hyundai promised that it will not adjust the pricing of existing models before June 2nd. General Motors stated that it has not changed its April discount strategy.

Despite the "buying spree" brought about by the tariff, several American automakers have privately expressed concerns to lawmakers: if the tariff is not abolished, companies will soon have to raise prices significantly.

Senator Ted Cruz revealed in a podcast interview that one of the "Big Three" automakers informed him that starting in June, the price of new cars will increase by approximately $4,500 (IT Home Note: equivalent to about 32,788 RMB at current exchange rates). "Not just foreign brands, all cars will go up."

Despite the strong current market performance, inventory levels are difficult to sustain in the long term. Edmunds data shows that as of early April, the average vehicle inventory is 48 days. Ford and Jeep inventories are both 64 days, Ram is 70 days, Hyundai is 60 days. Nissan's inventory is 42 days, while the inventory of the Chrysler brand is only 15 days.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7490350049789035071/

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