Hello and happy December, folks! Tis finally The Season: to be jolly, to eat, drink, and be merry, to snag those lingering Black Friday deals, and to look forward to all the end-of-season and holiday sales that are just about to start popping up in little shops, massive malls, and of course, online.
Use eTags© to Quickly Complete Your DMV Service. Renewals, Title Transfers and More, All Online!
Obviously, we would be remiss if we dared leave out the deals descending upon the automotive world. Cars, trucks, and SUV’s see their fair share of Tis the Season Sale Madness too. (Yes, we capitalized it and made it official!) All those TV commercials with a shiny new ride wrapped up in a gigantic red bow – we know…a new vehicle can be the ultimate holiday gift. Even if you happen to be gifting that gift to yourself – it counts.
Turns out though, that this year, this season might be the best chance you have of snagging a terrific price tag on the car of your dreams. You see, there’s a chance that several auto manufacturers could see a significant downturn when it comes to importing their vehicles to the U.S. Which means that showrooms could also suffer from a marked reduction in the choices and inventory available.
But, ugh, right? Weren’t we just recovering from those dismal years of automotive famine? Aren’t we just getting back to full showrooms and ever-so-slightly better price tags? What could possibly throw a wrench into the car-buying world again so soon?
Well, there seems to be a proposed tariff that our president-elect plans to levy on goods imported from Mexico and Canada.
And by tariff, we mean an extra hefty twenty-five percent fee on imports. And while that may not seem like a number that could break the bank for an imported shirt or a pair of glasses, it would be hugely impactful on something the size and cost of a vehicle. This comes in addition to the extra ten percent tariff promised on goods imported from China.
So, if these new tariffs actually do go into effect – in his last term, Trump spoke of a five percent tariff on all things imported from Mexico, but never put this threat into action – how would it impact the automotive world? In many ways actually.
A considerable number of vehicles manufactured by both European and American companies rely heavily on Mexico and Canada for their production. Volkswagen, for example, maintains one of its largest factories in the city of Puebla, Mexico. It is there that they build several different models for the specific purpose of exporting them to the U.S. Those very popular vehicles include the Jetta, the Taos, and the Tiguan.
And what exactly would more than 84,000 potential buyers do if they could no longer get their hands on their beloved Jeep Compass? In 2024 alone, that’s the ballpark number of folks who purchased that vehicle. And perhaps a similar number of people might suffer the disappointment of an inflated price or even limited stock in the coming year, because the Jeep Compass is manufactured in Mexico.
And what about the 179,000 buyers who chose the Ram pickup truck as their ride of choice this year? Well, if they’ve already gotten their hands on their truck, they’ll be okay. But the potential customers, the people who have been considering the Ram might have to reconsider. They too would be affected by this Mexican-manufactured vehicle import tariff.
It’s not just Mexico that would bear the burden of the proposed tariff.
Canada as well would see the twenty-five percent levy, thus impacting their manufacture of both the Chrysler Pacifica and the Dodge Charger. That’s over 59,000 potential minivan buyers and over 21,000 sedan buyers who could face lower inventory and much higher costs.
In addition to the Volkswagen, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and Dodge vehicle plants that exist in the countries threatened with the tariff, both GM and Ford have got a decent presence in these places as well. The latter two U.S. automotive giants manufacture electric powertrains and assemble EV’s in Mexico and Canada.
So what would all these carmakers have to do in order to avoid getting slapped with the hefty tariff?
Well, they’d have to move out of Mexico and Canada. Which would mean a number of very big changes. Either they’d have to build brand new plants Stateside, or they’d have to completely revamp existing (albeit defunct) factories to meet modern technology, tool, and manufacturing requirements.
They would also need to transport all the goods that have already been made from our border countries into the U.S., which is no small feat: the machinery, as you can imagine, is neither small nor light. And we can’t forget the human element in all of this. Entire teams of workers would need to be hired and trained in the States.
Now, here at eTags we’re not really into scare tactics or bad news. In fact, we don’t much care for either. And there’s a good chance that Trump’s intention of levying these tariffs against Mexican, Canadian (and Chinese) imports may never come to fruition. If the outcome of the extra cost and vehicle scarcity is of any truth, we can only hope that our president-elect reconsiders.
However, forewarned is forearmed.
So, if you were maybe considering buying one of the aforementioned vehicles, now might be a great time to do so. With the Tis the Season Sales going on this month versus the possibility of an impending rise in cost, December might be your moment to take action. Of course, this is also hedging bets, because no one (not even we) can predict the future. But we’re hopeful and optimistic!
And if you do decide to buy a new ride and you find yourself in need of title and tag services, well, we’re your guy. Or gal. Or both. Head on over to our dandy site, choose your state from the drop-down menu, and let us guide you through whatever service you require. Because as always, here at eTags, we’re here to help!
