Carmakers could face up to $12,000 impact per car from tariffs | Breaking News & Latest South Africa Updates

Carmakers could face up to $12,000 impact per car from tariffs — A Michigan-based economic consulting group said on Thursday carmakers will face a $2,000 (R36,926)to $12,000 (R221,557)tariff impact per vehicle des...

A Michigan-based economic consulting group said on Thursday carmakers will face a $2,000 (R36,926)to $12,000 (R221,557)tariff impact per vehicle despite the White House moving to soften trade levies on imported car parts.

Anderson Economic Group said US assembled vehicles such as Honda's Civic and Odyssey, the Chevy Malibu, Toyota Camry Hybrid, and Ford Explorer faced an impact of $2,000 to $3,000 (R55,391).

However, that could rise to as much as $10,000 (R184,637)to $12,000 (R221,557)for imported vehicles, including full-size luxury SUVs, some EVs and other vehicles assembled in Europe and Asia, such as the Mercedes G-Wagon, Land Rover and Range Rover models, some BMW models, and the Ford Mach-E.

The Ford Explorer assembled in Chicago previously faced a tariff impact of about $4,300, which will drop to about $2,400 (R44,313), the group estimated, while some Jeep, Ram and Chrysler models from Stellantis could face a $4,000 (R73,825)to $8,000 (R147,650)hit.

GM said on Thursday it expected a hit from tariffs of up to $5bn (R92,281,500,000), including $2bn (R36,916,715,800)on vehicles it imports from South Korea.

The carmakers did not comment and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump agreed to give carmakers two years to boost the percentage of domestic components in vehicles assembled in the US.

It will allow them to offset tariffs for imported car parts equal to 3.75% of the total value of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of vehicles they build in the US through to April 2026, and 2.5% of US production through to April 2027.

Car industry leaders lobbied the administration furiously during the weeks since Trump first unveiled his 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and car parts. The levies, aimed at forcing carmakers to reshore manufacturing domestically, had threatened to upend a North American automotive production network integrated across the US, Canada and Mexico.

The White House said the change will not affect the 25% tariffs imposed last month on the eight million vehicles the US imports annually.

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