Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs drive US first-quarter sales increase

US buyers snapped up more pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles in the first quarter from a year earlier, in the run-up to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on car imports, which could raise prices by thousands of dollars.

General Motors (GM) topped the list with a 17% jump in sales, aided by demand for its affordable crossover SUVs, such as the Chevrolet Trax, manufactured in South Korea.

“Automotive tariffs — now set to take effect on April 2 — might have pulled ahead some vehicle purchases in the first quarter,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at automotive data provider Edmunds, before the data release on Tuesday.

Trump’s planned 25% levies on vehicle imports are due to be collected from April 3 and carmakers are weighing whether, and by how much, to raise prices. The tariffs could also reduce the number of lower-cost imported vehicles in the market, such as Ford’s compact Maverick pickup truck, further straining affordability as the average new-vehicle price nears $50,000.

“Many cars would see drastic overnight price increases almost by necessity — and that unquestionably would cause a decline in sales,” said auction site owner Doug Demuro, referring to the tariffs. Crosstown rival Ford Motor reported a 1.3% drop in sales, citing the discontinuation of some models and the timing of certain rental fleet sales. Toyota’s North American unit reported a rise of about 1%.

Sales of electric vehicles in the first quarter rose 19.2%, according to data from Wards Intelligence, even as Tesla deliveries are expected to decline. Asian carmakers Hyundai, Mazda and Honda also reported higher quarterly sales.

“The last week, and including this past weekend, was by far the best weekend that I've seen in a very long time,” Hyundai Motor North America CEO Randy Parker said Tuesday. “So lots of people, I think, rushed in this weekend, especially, to try to beat the tariffs.”

Overall, US new vehicle sales in the quarter finished at about 3.91-million units, up 4.8% from last year, according to data released by Wards Intelligence on Tuesday.

“The potential for higher inflation due to new tariffs at US borders will all potentially hold back new-vehicle sales in 2025,” market research firm Cox Automotive said.