1 week Ago By Carolyn Fortuna
Last Updated on: 8th April 2025, 06:15 pm At first, it seemed like it was little more than another automaker press event. General Motors announced yesterday that it has expanded its global footprint with the official opening of a new advanced design studio in Royal Leamington Spa, about 20 miles from Birmingham, England. The Big 3 company revealed an advanced design study Chevrolet Corvette concept car developed by the UK team.
It is strongly reminiscent of the iconic split window C3 Corvette — oh, so highly revered by Corvette aficionados. Rather than offering a production model, the project will see additional Corvette concepts revealed throughout 2025. Such cars are designed to create excitement — something for customers to ogle over in the showroom as they shop for a new SUV to transport the soccer team.
With the opening of the UK studio, GM states that it “continues to demonstrate its commitment to Europe as the company scales its Cadillac electric vehicle business there, while also preparing to launch Corvette sales across the UK and mainland Europe.” GM is attempting to reenter Europe after selling off its Opel European division in 2017 to a group that has since become part of Stellantis. The UK concept is part of a global design project involving multiple studios in or near Detroit and Los Angeles, yes, but additionally in Shanghai and Seoul.
It wasn’t hard to read between the lines. It is not coincidental that the Corvette concept and UK design center opening intersect with the US trade war and tariffs with its allies. The subtext here is that GM will not be stifled by the Trump tariffs .
Instead, as the opening of its new design studio in England indicates, GM’s automotive business ventures will go on — just not as usual in the US. If there isn’t a foundation in the States where automakers can flourish, they’ll take their business elsewhere. “By now it’s obvious to anyone willing to see,” says Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, “that Donald Trump is, in practice, waging war against American greatness.
” A rearrangement of global trade and tariffs is sending jolts of shock through the global automotive industry . Trump’s trade war is just beginning, and economists are trying to anticipate how much consumer prices will climb, how much the tariffs will slow US growth, and if the US will slide into a recession. The escalation of tariffs is expected to cause further upheaval in global markets as well as the domestic economy, which has already shown stark downward trends due to Trump’s unpredictable trade approaches.
Ken Langone, the co-founder of Home Depot and a major Republican donor, told the Financial Times, “I don’t understand the goddamn formula.” The auto industry is just starting to assess the damage from Trump’s trade war. A 25% tariff on US automobile imports took effect last Thursday, while a levy on parts is slated to begin no later than May 3.
These new policies are certain to escalate costs of doing automotive business and to strangle supply chains. Already automakers are tabling investment decisions as their CEOs try to read the tea leaves to determine what the White House will do next. Meanwhile, the cost of doing business is rising exponentially as demand decreases due to higher vehicle price tags.
“The industry is in paralysis,” explains Michael Robinet, vice president of forecast strategy for S&P Global Mobility. “No one has any idea where to invest or how to invest. This is worse than Covid in the sense that there is a lack of a stable planning environment.
” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said he’s waiting for clarity on Trump’s trade policy before deciding how to proceed with US investments. Jaguar Land Rover said on Saturday that it was pausing shipments to the US in April, days after President Trump’s auto tariffs went into effect. “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands,” the company said in a statement.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are enacting our short-term actions, including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.” Jaguar exports all the cars it sells in the US, as it has no in-country manufacturing. In the last three months of 2024, it shipped 38,000 cars to the United States.
Ford has hired trucking firms and secured warehousing in states like Michigan and Ohio to transport output from the Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario, over the border before any tariffs take effect. Automotive parts makers are required to fork over tariff payments to US Customs and Border Protection prior to their goods getting a thumbs-up clearance to enter the US. Stellantis has decided to approach parts makers with a proposition of a monthly lump sump payment for eligible suppliers to help defray that cost, according to Bloomberg .
Aznavorian of Clips & Clamps Industries, a third-generation company in Plymouth, Michigan, has already had to absorb the rising cost of carbon steel, which started to soar immediately after Trump’s inauguration. Since then, the Trump administration’s 25% tariff on steel and aluminum took effect. The carbon steel is used to make custom brackets and braces that connect vehicle parts together.
Escalation could bring the US tariff on Chinese goods to 104%, though some products will experience a much higher rate because of levies that date back to Trump’s first term. Chinese electric-car maker BYD poses a major threat for Elon Musk’s Tesla and Detroit’s Big 3 automakers, says the conservative New York Post . Trump’s trade war with China could accelerate the crisis, they add, since BYD’s low prices are particularly concerning to Ford, GM, and Stellantis.
Those Big 3 automakers have leaned on high-margin vehicles like gas-powered SUVs and pickup trucks to drive profits while veering away from smaller cars that were seen as unprofitable. BYD is able to manufacture comparable vehicles at 25% to 30% lower cost, which is a warning to the US auto industry where margins are already narrow. The Washington Post reports that one of the first legal challenges to Trump’s tariffs isn’t coming from corporate litigators, though.
It’s coming from an influential, conservative-backed legal nonprofit, the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which filed a complaint this week over the legality of Trump’s tariffs launched earlier this year on all Chinese imports. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit.
