High-earning professionals in the auto industry, including car salesmen and engineers, are set to be hit hard by Donald Trump’s tariffs. 

Analysts are expecting major shockwaves to pulse through the automotive industry due to the president’s 25 percent taxes on imported vehicles, meaning increased costs of more than $100 billion for manufacturers and higher price tags on vehicles.

Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney said he expects the tariffs, imposed in April, will raise the cost of vehicle import and manufacture by ‘at least a low to mid single digit thousand level on average’. 

‘We believe it will be hard for the auto industry to fully pass this on, especially with softening consumer demand more generally,’ he said in a Thursday investor note. 

This means cuts will have to be made elsewhere, such as in auto job wages and redundancies, as is already being seen at America’s top carmaker, General Motors. 

Goldman Sachs has predicted that new vehicle net prices in the US will increase by around $2,000 to $4,000 over the next six to 12 months due to tariffs.  

‘What we’re seeing now is a structural shift, driven by policy, that’s likely to be long-lasting,’ Felix Stellmaszek, Boston Consulting Group’s global lead of automotive and mobility, told CNBC. 

‘This may well be the most consequential year for the auto industry in history — not just because of immediate cost pressures, but because it’s forcing fundamental change in how and where the industry builds.’

High-earning professionals in the auto industry, including car salesmen and engineers, are set to be hit hard by President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on imported vehicles 

Analysis by the Center for Automotive Research also found that the 25 percent tariffs will likely increase costs by about $108 billion for American automakers in 2025.

The study, released on Thursday by the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based organization, found Detroit automakers Ford Motor (F.N), General Motors (GM.N), and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), maker of Jeeps and Ram trucks, specifically will see increased costs of $42 billion. 

The study found the Detroit Three could see tariffs of nearly $5,000 for the parts they import on average for each car produced in the US, and about $8,600 on average for each car they import.

Trump’s 25 percent automotive import tariffs took effect April 3, causing shock waves across the global industry since supplies come from all over the world. 

Vehicles made in Mexico and Canada face the levy, but automakers compliant with the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement can deduct the value of US content.

The tariffs have pushed automakers to make production changes, with GM increasing truck output at an Indiana plant and Stellantis temporarily shutting down production at a plant in Mexico and one in Canada. 

These moves affected five U.S. facilities that are connected to them.

GM said it is temporarily laying off 200 employees at the factory that builds the EV GMC Hummer

The study estimates the Detroit Three automakers will see an average cost of the tariff per vehicle for imported vehicle parts of $4,911, higher than the overall industry’s average of $4,239 per vehicle.

For imported vehicles, the study found the average tariff cost per vehicle to be $8,722 for the overall industry and $8,641 for the Detroit Three.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, representing the Detroit Three automakers, said in a statement that the study ‘demonstrates the significant cost a 25 percent tariff will have on the automotive industry. 

American Automakers Ford, GM, and Stellantis intend to maintain our ongoing dialogue with the administration to achieve our shared goal of increased US automotive production.’

GM and Stellantis deferred to the trade group’s comment and Ford was not immediately available.