Albuquerque dealership urges car purchases as tariffs threaten prices

“Don’t risk it! Get your 100% tariff free vehicle now!”

That’s a new marketing campaign from Pitre Auto Group, a company with dealerships in Albuquerque and California, airing online and on the radio as global leaders attempt to negotiate tariffs that are affecting tons of products, from phones to Ferraris. The political climate has thrown business and industry leaders into uncertainty.

President Donald Trump earlier this month announced sweeping tariffs on around 90 countries, an effort to promote Americans to buy U.S.-made goods. After days of economic turmoil and a stumbling stock market, Trump on April 9 implemented a 90-day pause on the tariffs as more than 75 countries approached him for negotiations, though he kept in place 10% tariffs on most countries.

On top of that, a 25% tariff on vehicle imports remains in place, although reports are circulating that Trump is considering exempting carmakers from some levies. An additional 25% tariff on auto parts is set to begin by May 3.

“This will continue to spur growth like you haven’t seen before,” Trump said in a March news conference.

It’s left the automobile industry bracing for the impact of potential additional tariffs, and it’s swaying local marketing strategies.

“I don’t think anyone knows how tariffs are going to affect automobile pricing. I think it’s just too soon right now. The only thing we know is that the vehicles that are currently in dealers’ inventory right now are unaffected because we’ve already purchased them,” said Scott Simkins, chief operating officer for Pitre Auto Group.

That’s why his dealership is urging customers to buy cars now, rather than waiting.

“If you’re looking to buy a car, buy it now,” he said, “just because of the uncertainty. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

It’s a guarantee that additional tariffs would increase car prices, according to University of New Mexico economics professor Matías Fontenla, though by how much could vary by car type and dealerships.

“The auto industry is incredibly complex,” Fontenla said. “So many parts come from all over the world, and then they get moved around, and then they get assembled somewhere else.”

Carlos Garcia, general manager for Garcia Automotive Group, said he’s closely watching the tariff situation in Japan, Korea and the European Union. He called the tariff threats “short-sighted” by the Trump administration, at least in terms of impacts on the automotive industry.

“Foreign automakers have just been a boon to the U.S. economy for quite some time,” Garcia said, whose business has locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and El Paso.

Garcia said some of the manufacturers he works with aren’t making car types that could be especially vulnerable to tariffs and others aren’t shipping to the U.S. at all, at least for now. He used Land Rover as an example, which he said isn’t shipping to the U.S. until the tariff situations are resolved.

“They have a product line that’s very hot and in demand, and they just said they’re pausing shipments. And we have customers that have vehicles on order, and I don’t have a good answer for them,” Garcia said.

All the uncertainty has also made planning for future stock difficult. Garcia said dealers need to have the right balance of not too many and not too few cars to sell to remain profitable.

He said he’s more afraid of running out of cars right now, and he’s not using the tariff situation as a marketing strategy.

“We make the best guess that we can to take care of our clients and our community as best we can,” Garcia said.

Alternatively, if the U.S. heads into a recession, Fontenla said the demand for big-ticket items like vehicles will drop significantly.

He said the likelihood of a recession depends on a lot of things but the probability of it has gone up over the last month or so. He said factors like the stock market crashing, consumers pulling back on spending and businesses pausing stock production could all draw the nation into a recession — even if the federal government doesn’t impose additional tariffs.

And if people don’t feel comfortable with their income situation, like the financial losses people are feeling from the stock market or retirement accounts, they aren’t going out to shop, Fontenla said.

The cost of buying cars is already high. Consumers are, on average, financing about $40,000 for new vehicles and nearly a fifth of buyers in the first quarter of 2025 committed to monthly payments of $1,000 or more, according to data from Edmunds, an online car shopping guide.

Garcia acknowledged the high prices, saying they have not fallen back to pre-pandemic levels. He said the threatened 25% auto parts tariff would increase vehicle prices, especially for used cars.

“If there are tariffs, I think they’re going to be nominal, and I’m hoping that if they do happen that they’re small enough that the auto manufacturers would not have to raise their prices to accommodate that. … The trickle-down effect, really, (is) where people will get hurt, particularly in New Mexico,” he said.

The Federal Reserve seems keen to keep interest rates at a steady level for now, despite some looking to the Fed to raise interest rates to help lower high inflation levels. Fontenla said bringing interest rates up or down just might not be the appropriate tool to help solve economic crises right now.

“In this case, if we have inflation, then the Fed would want to raise interest rates to lower inflation, to slow down the economy,” he explained. “But if at the same time, the economy is slowing down on its own, we would want to lower interest rates to entice business and buying, because people buy mostly homes and cars on loan — so they pay interest on that.”