Potential car buyers are curious about tariffs at this year’s Twin Cities Auto Show

MINNEAPOLIS — Every year, thousands of car buyers stop by the Twin Cities Auto Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center to see the latest vehicles on the market.

This year, a lot of car buyers were also looking for answers as to how tariffs could impact the auto industry and whether now is a good time to buy.

“It’s kind of fun to look,” potential buyer Dean Schoeb said.

Even casual buyers like Schoeb are curious to learn more about how tariffs could impact prices.

“I’d say I’m looking to buy sometime over the next six months,” Schoeb explained.

“If it’s going to be a high tariff, I’m going to wait another year.”

He asked a few of the sales reps for advice on the tariffs, and he says many of them are just as confused as he is.

“I asked them, and they go, ‘We don’t know for sure,’” Schoeb said.

A new report from the Center for Automotive Research suggests the average American-made vehicle could cost an extra $4,239 to manufacture because many of the parts on these vehicles are imported from overseas. The report also suggests that the average imported vehicle could cost an extra $8,722.

Scott Lambert with the Twin Cities Auto Show says it’s unclear how much of the tariffs will be absorbed by the manufacturers and how much will be passed on to the dealers and consumers.

“We don’t know what the impact of the tariffs is going to be exactly. It will have some kind of impact. We don’t really know the extent of that yet,” Twin Cities Auto Show director Scott Lambert said.

At this point, Lambert says manufacturers and dealers have more questions than answers, and they’re doing their best to give advice to customers.

“The dealers are reporting increased traffic into their stores. People are definitely talking about it,” Lambert said.

Kathy and Craig Stachowski are among the countless shoppers who want to learn more about tariffs. They are casually shopping for a new vehicle, and they say what they buy and when they buy greatly depends on the tariffs.

“If prices are changing by hundreds or thousands of dollars on a daily basis, that makes it really hard to want to pick a car,” Kathy said.

“If I’m going to pay an extra $5,000 or 10% or whatever it is, I probably won’t buy,” Craig said.

The Twin Cities Auto Show runs Friday through Sunday this weekend and then Wednesday through Saturday next week. Tickets can be purchased online for $13, with a cheaper $10 ticket for Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets at the door cost $17. Children ages 10 and younger can get into the show for free.