12 Car Brands Likely To Become More Expensive In The US (After Tariffs)

Since taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on many of America's biggest trading partners, and he now appears to be following through with those threats. As of this writing, these tariffs are still changing as Trump reacts to threats and countermeasures taken by other countries and imposes new tariffs on a frequent basis. Given that rapidly changing nature, it's impossible to predict the impact on the automotive industry with any certainty, but some brands are likely to fare worse than others.

Although some manufacturers may initially absorb the impact of tariffs to prevent price spikes, it's likely that if the tariffs remain in place, they'll have to pass the added cost onto customers eventually. Among the most affected will be manufacturers who conduct final assembly of their most popular cars in a country already targeted by tariffs, such as Canada, Mexico, or China.

Each of the manufacturers below produce more than one U.S. market model in the affected countries, and so are set to be affected by the ongoing trade war. It should be noted that, for now, none have confirmed that price rises for American consumers will be coming in the immediate future. This is also not an exhaustive list of every manufacturer that imports multiple models, and given the ever-changing nature of the government's tariffs, many of these manufacturers may be able to enact mitigation plans to avoid having to push prices up.

While Chevrolet builds a number of its most popular models in the U.S., a significant proportion of its current lineup will be affected by cross-border tariffs. For example, both the Equinox and Equinox EV are assembled in GM's facilities in Mexico, the former at the GM San Luis Potosí plant and the latter at GM Ramos Arizpe. The Equinox is a strong seller for Chevy, with over 207,000 examples sold in the U.S. in 2024 according to CarFigures. However, that figure pales in comparison to the sales figures for the Silverado pickup, which sold a whopping 560,000 units over the year.

The Silverado is built at several GM facilities across North America, including at GM's plants in Silao, Mexico and Oshawa, Canada. However, GM CEO Mary Barra has indicated that there is some flexibility within the company's production facilities, and that a higher proportion of U.S. market Silverado production could be transferred to GM's Fort Wayne Assembly plant in Indiana. The Mexican and Canadian plants, meanwhile, could prioritize international orders to lessen the hit doled out by the tariffs.

Two of Chevrolet's most affordable crossover models, the Trax and Trailblazer, are assembled in South Korea. As of this writing, no U.S. tariffs have been announced on South Korean products, but Trump has reportedly instructed his team to set out a plan for future tariffs on the Asian nation. If those plans come to fruition, it will surely be a further headache for Chevrolet.

Alongside its manufacturing facilities in Japan, Honda also operates a number of assembly plants across North America, including several in Canada and Mexico. 

The lead global plant for the brand's popular CR-V crossover is in Alliston, Canada, although production also takes place at Greensburg, Indiana and East Liberty Auto Plant in Ohio. The Civic Sedan is also made outside of the U.S., in Alliston, Canada. The Civic hatchback, meanwhile, is made at Honda's facility in Indiana. Alongside the Civic and CR-V, other popular Honda models face an uncertain future thanks to the looming tariffs, with the brand's entry-level HR-V crossover currently built in Celaya, Mexico.

The status of Honda's Japanese-built models also continues to be a concern for the automaker, as Japanese authorities told reporters that they are uncertain if Trump is also planning to launch tariffs on Japanese-made goods. If Honda doesn't alter its production strategy, the automaker will be significantly at risk from the looming tariffs, but it seems that the company is adapting to the changing political climate rapidly.

According to a report from Reuters, the company has already scrapped its plans to build its Civic Hybrid in Mexico and will now shift production to the U.S. in anticipation of long-term tariffs. As of this writing, no further information has emerged for its plans about its other at-risk models, and a company spokesperson refused a request for comment by Reuters.

Out of the three models in Dodge's current lineup, only one model is built in the U.S. That model is the Durango, which is built in Detroit. Stellantis has also confirmed that the next-generation Durango will also be built in Detroit, despite rumors that production might shift to Canada. The automaker's Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Canada, already produces the electric Charger Daytona, and will produce the gas-powered Charger when it officially launches later in 2025. Both versions of the Charger are, for now, set to be impacted by the upcoming tariffs.

Another issue facing Dodge is that its Hornet crossover is manufactured in Naples, Italy. As of this writing, Trump has yet to impose tariffs on EU-made cars, but has promised that more tariffs on EU nations will be unveiled soon. In recent meetings, Trump has specifically highlighted his issue with EU countries not buying American cars, and implied that the EU would have to buy more cars from the U.S. if it wanted to avoid restrictions on its own car industry. 

Considering that Trump has already imposed — and then temporarily suspended — tariffs on cars built in Canada and Mexico, it's certainly possible that cars made in the EU might be subject to similar tariffs if the trade war continues.

Lexus models destined for the U.S. market are still mostly assembled in Japan, but some models are assembled elsewhere. The ES and TX are built at Toyota's U.S. plants in Kentucky and Indiana respectively, but the RX and NX are both made in Canada. 

This poses a problem for Lexus, as the RX and NX are two of the brand's most popular models, selling over 193,000 units between them. That popularity helped drive Lexus to its best-ever full year sales results in 2024, with North American being the brand's single biggest market.

As previously mentioned, no tariffs have yet been announced for Japanese-made cars, but Japanese ministers have not yet received any assurances from the U.S. that tariffs will not be put in place in the future. The tariff on Canadian-made cars is due to resume on April 2nd under current plans, which puts two of Lexus' best selling cars at significant risk.

One of a number of EV startups facing declining interest in the wake of increased competition from big manufacturers, Polestar's position in the market might be even more precarious if U.S. tariffs are kept long-term. At present, the automaker sells three models in the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3, and Polestar 4. However, with only the 3 being currently built in the U.S. Polestar has a production facility in South Carolina which builds the 3 for both the American and European markets, as well as a secondary production line in Chengdu, China.

The American facility could prove to be both a good and bad thing for Polestar, since it allows the company to dodge U.S. tariffs but also makes it vulnerable to any tariff countermeasures imposed by the EU on American-built vehicles. According to Reuters, Polestar's current path to profitability focuses on expansion in the French market, and that will require the American-built 3 to be available in the country at a competitive price.

Both its 2 and 4 models are built at facilities in China, although Polestar expects to begin production of the 4 at a new facility in South Korea in 2025. This might help Polestar skirt the looming tariffs — that is, unless the U.S. government also announces tariffs on South Korea, which it is reportedly considering.

The fate of Chrysler's American lineup hinges entirely on how Trump and his advisers decide to proceed with tariffs on Canadian-made cars, as both of its current production models are built at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Canada. 

The Pacifica is the brand's most popular model, and the only other model in its current lineup is the Voyager, another minivan that's slightly cheaper than the Pacifica. The Voyager model was brought back for the 2025 model year, but at the start of the year, it had earned the unfortunate title of being one of the slowest selling cars on the market.

Chrysler is also planning to launch new models in the near future, although for now, few specifics have been confirmed. The latest reports suggest that Chrysler is looking to launch an SUV model based on the design language of its Halycon concept, but the brand has not disclosed an expected launch date nor confirmed where the new SUV will be built.

Audi has no U.S. production facilities, but it does build the Q5 SUV in a facility in San José Chiapa, Mexico. However, the majority of its other models are built in Germany. The A5, A6, A7, A8, and e-tron GT are assembled in Neckarsulm, while the A3, A6 e-tron, and Q6 e-tron are built at the brand's historic headquarters in Ingolstadt. The Q4 e-tron is produced in a separate facility in Zwickau. With the majority of its U.S. market lineup being produced in either Mexico or Germany, Audi is particularly vulnerable to the proposed tariffs.

As of this writing, tariffs on Mexican-built cars remain suspended, although are planned to resume in April, while tariffs on EU-built cars have not been confirmed. However, given the escalating war of words between Trump and the EU and the latter's recently imposed tariff countermeasures, further tariffs on EU products seem likely. If they are imposed on cars, that would leave Audi with very little room to maneuver, as unlike many of the other major automakers listed here, it has no U.S. factories to lean on to offset the effects of such tariffs.

GMC builds the majority of its lineup in the U.S., but it still has two key models that might be affected by tariffs. The Hummer EV, Acadia, Yukon, and Savana are all built at various facilities around the U.S., but the Terrain SUV and Sierra pickup are both built in Mexico. The Mexican GM San Luis Potosí plant is the only plant that currently makes the Terrain, with GMC selling over 82,000 examples of the model in the U.S. in 2024 according to CarFigures.

The Sierra pickup is made in two locations — Silao, Mexico and in Fort Wayne in Indiana. In theory, GM could prioritize production in the Indiana plant to minimize the effect of tariffs, but that plant has already been earmarked for increased production of the Sierra's sister model, the Chevrolet Silverado.

While nothing is confirmed yet, it seems unlikely that production at Fort Wayne could be increased enough to accommodate demand for both the Silverado and Sierra. Given GMC's position as the more upmarket brand of the pair, it seems more likely that GM would increase prices for the Mexican-built Sierra, pushing it further into luxury territory, rather than risk alienating value-oriented buyers by significantly hiking Silverado prices.

Another major American manufacturer that builds multiple models in Mexico is Ford, which currently produces three models across the border. The Maverick pickup and Bronco Sport are both built in Ford's assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, while the Mustang Mach-E is built in Cuautitlan, Mexico.

As well as dealing with planned tariffs on Mexican-built vehicles, Ford will also have to work out how to accommodate any potential tariffs on Canadian-built vehicles after production of its Super Duty line begins in Canada in 2026. The automaker currently also builds several V8 engine variants in Canada, making them also subject to tariffs, before shipping them to the U.S. for vehicle assembly. As of this writing, Ford has not announced any changes to its planned Canadian production, having already spent billions of dollars upgrading its production facilities in the country.

If that wasn't enough, Ford's luxury arm might also be impacted by tariffs, as the Lincoln Nautilus has been built in China then imported to the U.S. since the launch of the current generation model.

Three BMW models are currently built in the automaker's plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico — the 2-Series, the 3-Series, and the M2. The plant was only opened in 2019 but is slated to play a major role in the brand's North American manufacturing plans, with the production of as-yet unnamed EV models due to begin in 2027. 

In addition to the existing tariffs levied at Mexican-made cars, BMW may also be affected by Trump's trade war with the EU. The 3-Series and 4-Series and their corresponding M-badged models are built in BMW's Munich plant, while a wide range of models including the 5-Series, 7-Series, and iX are built in Dingolfing, BMW's largest German plant.

However, some BMW are mostly shielded from the impacts of tariffs, since they're built in the U.S. The brand's South Carolina plant is responsible for producing most of BMW's X-badged SUVs, from the X3 to the top-spec XM. While those models will not be affected by U.S. tariffs on imported goods — and thus prices are unlikely to increase for American buyers — the South Carolina plant exports a significant proportion of its output to other countries. That exported output might still be vulnerable to any countermeasures imposed by other countries on American-made vehicles.

Much like BMW, VW produces a significant number of models in Europe, and is therefore at risk if Trump decides to introduce tariffs on EU-made vehicles. Its biggest plant in Wolfsburg produces models like the Golf and Tiguan, while an increasing number of its electric models are built in a facility in Zwickau. However, the most pressing concern for VW is the fact that three of its popular American-market models are built in Mexico, and thus subject to impending import tariffs.

The Jetta, Taos, and certain Tiguan variants are all manufactured at VW's plant in Puebla, Mexico, with the facility churning out around 350,000 vehicles per year. As things stand, those cars will become subject to tariffs once the current grace period ends in April. Like all of the manufacturers here, it remains to be seen if and how VW will pass on these tariffs to buyers, but putting prices up by any significant margin might prove painful for VW, given that its affected cars compete in value-driven segments.

Ram builds its best selling 1500 model at both a plant in Saltillo, Mexico, and at its plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, with Mexican production beginning in 2024 after Sterling Heights reached maximum capacity. In addition to 1500 production, Ram also builds its heavy-duty trucks, namely the 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500 models, at the Mexican plant. 

However, reports have suggested the automaker might reconsider its production plans in the wake of the impending tariffs. For now though, all heavy-duty Ram models — plus its ProMaster van and its EV variant — remain subject to tariffs once they begin in April. Production of the electric 1500 REV remains unaffected, with Stellantis investing significantly in its Sterling Heights facility in order to accommodate demand for the truck there. 

Like all the manufacturers here, Ram has not yet announced any pricing changes for its trucks, and such price changes are only likely if tariffs are implemented over the long term and Ram opts to pass those added costs onto the consumer. Whether that will happen — and when such changes might take effect — remain unclear for now.