Nissan’s Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant opened in 1983, marking the first major automotive facility in Tennessee. The factory employs more than 7,000 people who produce a variety of vehicles, including leaf EVs and rogue crossovers.
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Detroit – A third of vehicle production in North America could be cut by next week as automakers try to reduce costs and buyers refrain from purchasing new cars and trucks.
According to a new analysis from renowned data and forecasting company S&P Global Mobility, its lost production amounts to around 20,000 units per day.
The impact of production and the possibility of layoffs will continue to grow if Trump’s tariffs on Tuesday are not changed or lifted, the agency noted.
“We have a new dawn to some extent, and this is an important move,” Stephanie Brinley, Associate Director of Self-Sales at S&P Global Mobility, said in a webinar with the Automotive Press Association.
“I think you’ll see some plants dropping their shifts. Some plants just slow down their build rates,” Brinley said. “It’s not necessarily consistent across (automobile manufacturers). It’s very important to what they need and how much they need it.”
S&P Global Mobility averages 63,900 lightweight passenger cars in North America, with 25 automakers producing on average. Most of them, about 65%, are assembled in the US, followed by 27% in Mexico and 8% in Canada.
US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on February 25, 2025 at the White House Oval Office in Washington, DC. Trump has directed the Commerce Department to open an investigation into potential tariffs on copper imports.
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The affected production will vary depending on the car manufacturer, vehicle and plant location. That could mean that plants are either fully idled or produce fewer certain vehicles that rely on parts that can travel across borders multiple times.
Automotive stocks fell below the broader market on Tuesday, as a result of tariffs.
Customs duties are taxes on imports or foreign goods brought into the United States. Companies importing goods pay customs duties, and some experts fear that the company simply passes additional costs to consumers. It could increase vehicle costs and reduce demand.
Several automakers this week refused to comment directly on the 25% tariffs and relied on past comments and speaking on behalf of industry groups.
Representative American Automotive Policy Council Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis – All of these are heavily affected by such tariffs. Vehicles and parts that meet the strict domestic and regional content requirements of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, or USMCA, claim that they should be exempt from increased tariffs.
“American automakers who have invested billions of dollars in the US to meet these requirements should not undermine their competitiveness, which increases the costs of building US vehicles and raises the costs of stymie investments in the US labor force.
GM, Ford, Stellantis stock
Nissan Motor Later Monday, he said, “Sustained tariffs of this magnitude have a negative impact on automakers and are evaluating how they can take action accordingly.
Several automotive executives and Wall Street analysts have described tariffs as inserting unnecessary disruptions into the auto industry.
“President Trump has spoken a lot about strengthening the US automotive industry, bringing more production here and more innovation in the US. If his administration can achieve that, it will be one of the most signed achievements.” “So far, what we’re seeing is a lot of costs and a lot of confusion.”
Tariff supporters argue that it is a way to help them level out trade disparities with the country, but it could potentially serve as leverage for Trump to renegotiate the USMCA, which he first negotiated as president.
While automakers are relatively completely present regarding the financial impacts that they expect to form such tariffs, GM CEO Mary Barra said last month that they believe automakers can mitigate the short-term impact of 30% to 50% of their additional costs “without capital deployment.”
It is difficult to calculate the total impact of such tariffs on North American vehicle production. Parts can cross the borders of the country several times in various ways before they are installed on the vehicle.
S&P Global Mobility reports that the vehicle has an average of 20,000 parts when torn by nuts or bolts. Parts may come from 50-120 countries
For example, the Ford F-150 is assembled only in the US, but there are around 2,700 major billable parts, according to Caresoft, an engineering benchmark and consulting company.
According to Livonia, based in Caresoft, Michigan, the parts come from 24 countries.
