Tariff fears are driving a boost in auto sales in Detroit
CBC
With a licence plate and set of keys in hand, Jerry Chen gets into the new Toyota Highlander his family decided to purchase before U.S. President Donald Trump's auto tariffs kicked into gear.
Chen and his wife, who have two children, bought the vehicle from a Toyota dealership in Bloomfield Township, a northern suburb of Detroit.
"I'm super excited," Chen said moments before getting into the driver's seat.
CBC News travelled to Michigan's Motor City because of its large auto industry presence, to find out how consumers and dealerships are responding to the tariffs. Detroit is also across from Windsor, Ont., Canada's key auto industry player that's home to giant plants like Ford and Stellantis.
Chen admitted the purchase of the family's Highlander was made sooner than originally planned.
"We were a little concerned about waiting, you know, six months or a year, not knowing what would happen," he said, referring to what vehicles might cost down the road.
"I actually have been looking for about a month, so I think the car itself is great and I'm due for a new car, and with all the tariffs going on, I figure it's probably a good time to get a new car before the prices go up."
He's not alone. Sales for U.S. vehicles rose over 10 per cent in March compared to the same month last year, according to Cox Automotive and a TD Economics report.
The figures were released after Trump announced in late March that, effective April 2, his administration would be slapping a 25 per cent tariff on imported vehicles that don't fall under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and that 25 per cent tariffs would be imposed on certain auto parts beginning May 3.
Bob Page, owner of the Toyota dealership where the Chen family bought their car, said his sales are up about 20 per cent this year compared to the same period in previous years.
"Generally speaking, we've had a pretty good rush. And I'm hearing it throughout the nation for added car purchases. Moving people, people that are thinking of doing it the next two or three months, we're trying to do it now."
Page also owns a Honda dealership about 16 kilometres from the Toyota business.
At Bloomfield Honda, one of Page's top salespeople, Sean Fathi, said business has been good.
"As of mid-March when the tariffs were announced … we had a huge uptick in new car sales and a lot of buyers," said Fathi.
