Carmakers Use Stealth Price Hikes to Cope With Trump’s Tariffs
Quiet cuts to incentives are boosting how much Americans pay for cars, even if the sticker price stays the same.
Car buyers racing to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariffs face an uncomfortable truth — the trade war is already boosting US auto prices, often in ways nearly invisible to consumers.
The sticker price on a particular make and model may not have changed, at least not yet. But automakers have been quietly cutting rebates and limiting cheap financing deals, adding hundreds of dollars to buyers’ monthly payments even as the companies say they’re holding the line on pricing. Several have boosted delivery charges — a fee everyone must pay when buying a new vehicle — by $40 to $400 dollars, according to automotive researcher Edmunds.com Inc.