Some consumers and players in the automobile industry are keeping calm despite a potential tariff war with the United States, Le Journal noted during its visit to the Auto Show, some even hoping for an increase in vehicle sales new.
“If Donald Trump imposes his tariffs, we will have no choice to live with them. We will adapt,” assures a Nissan employee from Greater Montreal. He asked to remain anonymous as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Prices of new cars increased by 68% between 2019 and 2024, according to an analysis by financial comparator Hardbacon published last February.
Photo Zoé Arcand
The supply chain has been particularly disrupted by the pandemic, and these “episodes from the past could give us an idea of what happens next,” said the Vice-President, Chief Economist of Export Development Canada, Stuart Bergman. , in a press release earlier this month.
“The prospect of an increase in customs tariffs accentuates uncertainty in the Canadian automobile sector which exports 93% of its production to the American market,” he explains.
“It’s harder to sell now,” the Nissan employee actually admits. This week, he only met two customers, whereas he usually meets at least seven a week and makes at least four sales.
However, he points out that the month of January is generally not the best in terms of sales, which tend to improve around March. “Consumer behavior is sometimes difficult to understand,” he adds.
Sales could increase
Declaring himself pro-Trump, this employee is not worried about the threat of a potential imposition of future customs tariffs by the 47th president of the United States of America. I suggest leaving this but removing his quote. Just a matter of saying that he is calm and not worried.
“We have no reason to worry,” even believes Nadine Gad, responsible for advertising and media at Nissan Canada, assuring that car sales “are going very well.”
Photo Zoé Arcand
New vehicle sales jumped in 2023 as prices were higher than ever. In November 2024 – the latest data available from Statistics Canada – more than 160,000 new vehicles were sold in the country. Sales had already increased from around 125,000 in November 2022 to almost 145,000 in 2023.
Falling prices
Pierre Grandmaison, a visitor to the Auto Show who has worked in the automobile industry for 40 years, hopes for a drop in automobile prices.
“The car fleet on the roads is aging,” he explains. According to him, the excessively high prices of new cars and the drop in sales that they have caused will have pushed manufacturers to lower prices.
Photo Zoé Arcand
He even goes so far as to hope that prices will drop back to 2019 levels. At the time, the monthly cost of a new vehicle in Montreal was $792. In 2024, this cost rose to $1,310 per month.
He himself says he never buys a new vehicle. He takes the time to shop during his visit to the show on Saturday, but plans to buy a three-year-old used vehicle because they quickly lose value. He then keeps his vehicles for approximately 8 years.
Anyone who prefers Japanese cars does not fear Trump’s potential tariff increases either, since the United States does not have a monopoly on car imports to the country.
