Local auto dealers brace for impact as U.S. tariff concerns mount

Local car dealerships brace for U.S. tariff impacts.

Tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump continue to be on the minds of businesses and corporations across the country.

The local automotive sector is no different, as car dealerships in Barrie bracr for the possibility of getting hit with 25 per cent tariffs come April. As is the case for many industries, the uncertainty of whether the U.S. president will actually go through with automotive tariffs is what they say is giving them the most anxiety.

But some also say they are seeing a bit of a rush to buy certain vehicles before they potentially become 25 per cent more expensive.

“We’ve seen a definite uptick in people buying vehicles, especially new vehicles with the tariffs coming,” confirmed Matt Stone, sales and leasing representative at Paul Sadlon Motors.

For Paul Sadlon Motors, tariffs would impact more than half of its 700 new vehicles, as Stone estimates that nearly 60 per cent of them are American-built and 20 per cent of them are Canadian. Their Canadian-built vehicles consist of mostly trucks, such as GMC Sierras and Chevrolet Silverados, but many of their SUVs come from south of the border.

Stone adds that there is equal concern for those looking to get top value when trading in their vehicle, and that customers are trying to do so before March 21, so their vehicles have ample time to be exported to the U.S. before the looming tariffs take effect.

“The low Canadian dollar has meant the Americans are here buying all of our used vehicles which is a benefit of the customer,” explained Stone. “If the tariffs do come in, it’s a pretty big difference ... about a 20 per cent difference in value for your trade.”

When it comes to used vehicles, Dean Coates with G.D. Coates said he is feeling the uncertainty in the market, but he said they will keep their used vehicle prices steady – tariffs or not.

“Not a whole lot of effect on used cars that are on ground currently,” confirmed Coates. He also advised those in the market for a used vehicle not to panic about the tariffs.

“Shop for your car. There’s a lot of cars in the market that are built outside the U.S. that will be completely unaffected by tariffs,” said Coates. “A lot of the stuff that is U.S. built – if you’re in the market for pre-owned – they’re already on the ground."

One way to tell where a car is built is the first character of its vehicle identification number (VIN). A VIN beginning with a ‘1’ typically denotes a car that was built in the U.S., ‘2’ is typically for cars from Canada and ‘3’ is for Mexico. VIN’s beginning with a letter are typically for cars built overseas.