Cars fanders invoices pushing some car buyers in rush purchases

Ziggy Duchnowski spent Saturday morning of the car shopping along the northern avenue at Queens with two goals in mind.

He wanted to find a new small car for his wife and hoped to reach an agreement before the new invoices imposed by President Trump on imported cars and trucks to influence prices.

“The word on the road is the prices will shoot now,” said Duchnowski, 45, a Union carpenter who voted for Mr Trump, holding the hands of his two young children.

Invoices – 25 % on vehicles and components produced outside the United States – will have a wide impact on North America’s car industry. They are supposed to come into force on April 3 and are sure to increase the prices of new cars and trucks.

They will also force automakers to adjust their production work in North America and fight to find ways to reduce the costs to offset the invoices. And for the time being, at least, some consumers are promoting to buy vehicles before the sticker prices.

Analysts estimate that invoices will significantly increase the prices of new vehicles, adding a few thousand dollars to entry models to $ 10,000 or more for cars and high quality trucks. The highest prices for the new vehicles are also likely to push the prices of used cars higher.

Every automaker will feel some impact. General Motors creates a large number of extremely profitable trucks and sports services in Canada and Mexico. Toyota and Honda make a popular SUV in Canada. Volkswagen brings together sedan Jetta, SUV Tiguan and other popular models in Mexico.

“As soon as invoices come into force and people are starting to receive excerpts that represent these 25 % increases, then it will start sinking,” said Bill Pacilli, Sales Manager at Lynnes Hyundai in Bloomfield, NJ

Near half cars that Hyundai sells in the United States are imported from South Korea, he said. “They will hit the invoices in about a month or two,” Mr Pacilli said. “Of course we are worried. Any result in pricing will affect sales volume.”

While many traders did not see a significant increase in buyers on Saturday, Jeremy Gleason, general manager at the McGrath Subaru Evanston in Skokie, Ill, said his delegation had had the largest sales day since he opened in 2021.

“It was nuts,” Mr Gleason said. “Invoices come a lot and pushed people to move forward faster.” He added that his delegation usually sells about 15 cars on Saturdays, but is sold 32 on it.

Alvaro Duarte, an Ecuadorian immigrant living in western New York, NJ, went to Hudson Toyota in Jersey City, NJ, on Saturday to market the car for an electric model, fearing that prices would increase if he waited.

“Invoices affect everyone,” said Duarte, 37. In his spare time, he said, he often uses his car to make money on his part as Amazon Flex delivery guide. “If prices go up, I have to pay more for my car. And that’s more expensive for me and my family,” he said. “I made the change because there is no gasoline with electric cars and less maintenance.”

Meanwhile, a seller at Audi Manhattan in New York, Abdul Azeez, said traffic was not lively from the usual and suggested that it was because people living in the neighborhood usually have the means to buy new cars whenever they choose.

“Overall, I do not think that Manhattan delegates will be so affected by representatives in other states or less busy cities, because even in good economy, bad economy, there will always be someone walking at the door to buy a car,” said Azeez 24.

In Ann Arbor, Mich., About the lane of car dealers west of the city center on Jackson Avenue, customer traffic was quite normal for a Saturday on the last weekend of the month – usually a busy time.

However, a Tesla exhibition space drew a multitude: about 300 to 400 people gathered to protest the political activities of Elon Musk’s chief executive.

Mr Musk is head of the cost reduction initiative, known as a department of government efficiency, which has eliminated thousands of federal jobs and deceives several government services, including the Department of Veterans and the Department of Education.

The protesters brought signs that demanded Mr Musk’s firing and invited people to sell their Teslas.

“We have to take some basic common sense in this country,” said Harold Blake, a 73 -year -old retired who drove 30 miles from Dearborn to take part in the protest.

“It’s so extreme, what’s going on in Washington,” he said. “I don’t get it lying down.”

During an hour, no customer has crossed the Picket line to enter the Tesla showroom.

Protests took place at Tesla sites around the world as part of the so -called Tesla Takedown movement. More than two dozen such demonstrations were scheduled for the United States on Saturday. Others were designed for Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

“I am terrified for my children and grandkids for what this world is coming,” said Kathy Sinnes, 67, while protesting outside a Tesla exhibition in Miami and holding a poster reading: “greedy Tesla will not take into account.”

It remains unclear how soon the prices will rise in new vehicles. Most automakers have several cars with no invoices and trucks in lots of dealers to last 60 to 90 days.

Juan Carlos Fagerlund decided not to wait. It was at a Toyota dealership in North Miami, Fla., To add windows to a prius he had bought this month.

Although he had already thought of buying a new car, he said, the ability of higher prices prompted him to accelerate his shopping, especially because he wanted a prius. The car is done in Japan and will be subject to a heavy invoice.

The increase in duties “was not entirely the reason we bought in March,” Mr Fagerlund said. “But it was definitely in our minds.”

Adria Pina, 60, Dominican immigrant and New Jersey Transit bus driver who lives in Bayonne, NJ, also decided to move quickly. Sitting in the Hudson Toyota dealership in Jersey City a few minutes after buying a new car, he said he felt he had just avoided an invoice.

“My husband said we were lucky to get a deal before the invoices,” Ms. Pina said. “If we didn’t do it in time, it will cost us about $ 10,000 more. That’s a lot of money.”

The 57 -year -old Sal Sellers, the Sales Manager at Hudson Nissan Next Door, did not seem too worried about threatening invoices, noting that he had gone through the pandemic and other serious financial bends. But that didn’t mean that his clients were not worried.

“Last week, we had a pair of customers walking,” You know what, I’m not waiting. I’ll change my car now before they hit the invoices, “Mr Sellers said.” I would say that about 30 % of my customers said that. “

Outside Chicago, Enzo Costa oversees eight representatives as sales manager for the Patrick Dealer family team.

In March, he said, he increased his orders for new cars to overcome his stock before raising prices and his acquisition team bought 30 used vehicles – about three times the usual number.

So far, however, he had not seen a spike in customer traffic. “On a regular Saturday, we set 80 to 100 appointments,” he said. “Today, we have 75.”

He added that his sales team urges customers who are considering new cars to come to the showroom. “Everything in the census is pre-teachers,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about it now. This is something that is well below the road.”

In the Silver Line Auto Group in Queens, which sells used jeeps, cadillacs and Mercedeses, many customers are immigrants or other people who have driver licenses but not social security numbers. In December, Silver Line sold 35 cars, but businesses had collapsed since then, said one seller, Silver Bautista. The company sold only eight cars this month and was recently fired four employees.

Mr Bautista said that he believed that customers were left away not because of the rising prices, but because they felt the need to save money.

“They are not interested in invoices,” Mr Bautista said. “People are worried about their deportation.”

Robert Chiarito; Ryan Hooper; Verónica zaragovia; Anusha bayya and Nate schweber They contributed reports.