Car sales plummet following pre-tariffs panic buying: ‘The party is over’

The US auto market is showing signs of significant strain as carmakers, dealers and consumers face the combined pressures of rising tariffs, soaring prices and deepening economic uncertainty.

After a brief surge in spring sales, the market stalled in June as consumers pulled back on big-ticket purchases, according to the latest figures.

The slowdown follows President Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports, which have forced automakers to rethink pricing strategies and brace for further disruptions in the months ahead.

The annualized automotive selling rate likely dropped to 15 million in June — down sharply from 17.6 million in April — marking the slowest pace in the past 12 months.

According to industry researcher JD Power, the second-quarter sales figure still managed a modest 2.5% increase from the prior year, as shoppers “rushed to showrooms” to beat anticipated price hikes. But that momentum has now “subsided,” and analysts warn that the worst may be yet to come.

“The party is over,” Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive Inc., told Bloomberg News.

“It’s clearly slowing. It’s because of affordability getting worse and forcing what we think will be production declines to keep supply in balance.”

Certainly. Here’s a concise three-sentence summary of the data:

US auto sales saw a sharp spike in early 2025 as consumers rushed to purchase vehicles ahead of Trump’s new tariffs, frontloading demand and contributing to a subsequent slowdown.

Despite fears of soaring prices, the average new car cost in June 2025 was up just 1% from a year earlier.

Analysts note that the broader rise in auto prices — up 28% since 2019 — has been driven largely by pandemic-related supply chain issues and inflation, which soared during the Biden administration, and not solely the recent tariffs.

Smoke predicts that the annualized monthly rate of US auto sales will remain around 15 million for the second half of the year, down from 16.3 million in the first six months of 2025.

For comparison, Americans purchased about 16 million cars and light trucks in all of last year.

At the dealership level, the slowdown is already being felt. Peter Petito, who manages a Honda dealership in Queens, New York, said sales have cooled following a rush of buyers earlier this year.

“It was like ‘there’s going to be a snowstorm and there’s no milk, juice or bread,’” Petito told Bloomberg News.

According to recent Cox surveys, economic anxiety has overtaken high interest rates as the number one factor discouraging consumers from buying cars.

“People are having a lot of uncertainty,” Beau Boeckmann, president of Galpin Motors, a major Ford dealer in Southern California, told Bloomberg News.

“And during times of uncertainty, people put off a major purchase.”

Affordability is central to the problem. The average cost of a new car hit $48,799 in June — up 1% from a year earlier and 28% higher than in 2019, per Cox data.

“Given the impact of tariffs, prices are likely to start rising at a much faster rate,” Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox, told Bloomberg News.

“Higher vehicle prices are coming to the new vehicle market.”

Automakers, wary of pricing out customers, have largely avoided broad price hikes. Instead, they’ve trimmed incentive spending and selectively raised prices on models most affected by tariffs.

Still, average monthly car payments climbed to a record $747 in June, a $22 increase year-over-year, according to JD Power.

More buyers are now stretching out car loans to 84 months — seven years — a trend that accounted for 12% of all auto financing in June, up three percentage points from last year.

Mark Wakefield, global auto market lead at consultancy AlixPartners, attributed the June slump to a post-surge drop-off.

“The June slowdown was ‘a hangover from some of the sales that were pulled ahead,’” Wakefield told Bloomberg News.

AlixPartners predicts that automakers will “pass along” 80% of the cost of Trump’s tariffs to consumers, raising vehicle prices by nearly $2,000 per car.

“We don’t see the full pass-through until the end of the year,” Wakefield added.

The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and key auto parts, ending USMCA exemptions and applying the duties broadly, including to imports from Canada and Mexico.

US-made vehicles qualify for partial rebates, and a trade deal with the UK reduced tariffs on British-made cars to 10% for up to 100,000 vehicles annually.

Analysts estimate the tariffs could raise car prices by $5,000 to $10,000 and warn of broader supply chain disruptions and consumer affordability concerns.

The Post has sought comment from the White House.