Auto sales jumped in March in anticipation of Trump’s prices – Orange County Register

The automotive industry witnessed another type of madness in March last month when buyers clashed in the dealers to lock the transactions before President Donald Trump’s car rates drop the prices by thousands of dollars, said several car manufacturers.

“Last weekend was by far the best weekend I have seen for a very long time,” CEO of Hyundai Motor North America said on Tuesday. The company declared a 13% increase in March sales on Monday compared to a year earlier.

Ford Motor said on Monday that its March sales from dealers have increased by 19%. However, Ford sales during the global quarter dropped by 1%, to around 500,000 vehicles, due to a drop in sales to fleet customers, the company said.

General Motors did not provide a separate figure for March, but said that sales in the first quarter increased 17% compared to the previous year to 693,000 vehicles.

Trump said last week that he would impose prices of 25% on imported vehicles from Thursday. The prices will be extended to automotive parts imported on May 3. Many cars made in American factories contain parts made abroad, frequently exceeding 50% of the value of the vehicle. Analysts believe that car manufacturers will have to increase the prices of certain models by more than $ 10,000 to compensate for new samples.

GM, Ford and Hyundai declared an increase in sales of electric vehicles and hybrids. GM said its sales of vehicles powered only by batteries have almost doubled, at 32,000 cars, while the electric version of the Equinox Sport utility vehicle has become widely available. With a starting price of around $ 35,000, the equinox is one of the most affordable electric vehicles available in the United States.

Ford said sales of hybrid vehicles had increased by 33% and that sales of electric vehicles such as the Mustang Mach-E increased by 12%. Car sales with internal combustion engines during the quarter dropped by 5%.

Hyundai said that hybrid sales increased by 68% while sales of pure electric vehicles increased by 3%.

Parker said he could not estimate what impact rates would have on business prices. Hyundai and his sister company, Kia, have factories in Georgia and Alabama, but they import a large number of South Korea vehicles.

“We have not yet made firm decisions,” said Parker. But he added: “Do not wait to buy tomorrow what you can buy today.”

Originally published: April 1, 2025 at 1:36 p.m.