Tariffs on Emira in US?

[meenboli]

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-talks-try-avoid-us-tariffs-finance-minister-says-2025-03-27/

UK should put 25% tariff on Teslas - then Musk can go crying to his buddy about what a cock up he's made.

Sounds only fair to me...

 

[JohnnyB]

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-talks-try-avoid-us-tariffs-finance-minister-says-2025-03-27/

I'm optimistic that the UK and US will make a deal so that those of us with a 2025 Emira order can focus on the car, not tariffs.

 

[Jbrock]

Every car , no matter where manufactured will be subject to tariffs, (TAXES. )All autos use parts from around the world, no matter where they are built. Ferrari's use GM's Magna Ride for example. Tariffs are fine when there is protectionism of an industry, example steel dumping. The consumer is screwed, and the world economy is going to suffer.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

UK should put 25% tariff on Teslas - then Musk can go crying to his buddy about what a cock up he's made.

Sounds only fair to me...

The UK already puts 10% tariffs on US cars and 20% for VAT - long before Musk came along.

 

[JohnnyB]

A buddy of mine in Canada has owned cars/trucks ranging from Mustang, F-150, and various Porsche models and I'm always amazed when he tells me what they cost in Canada.

 

[meenboli]

The UK already puts 10% tariffs on US cars and 20% for VAT - long before Musk came along.

Yes I know - the VAT is irrelevant, almost everything has 20% VAT (including the Emira - £15,207 in my case).

But it should be evened out - Tesla would have a lot to lose from that.

 

[crainp]

Elon is getting a return on his $300 million "investment". Teslas are manufactured in the US.

 

[meenboli]

Elon is getting a return on his $300 million "investment". Teslas are manufactured in the US.

Elon won't see the 25% tax - the US government will.

And I expect that it would, due to sentiment, lead to less sales in the UK.

And possibly more sales in the US - everybody is going to be driving the same car!

 

[crainp]

Elon won't see the 25% tax - the US government will.

And I expect that it would, due to sentiment, lead to less sales in the UK.

After just having been passed in the last lap, Elon has now got BYD effectively disqualified. BYD sales just topped Tesla, and was a threat to Tesla in the US, but now boy genius has end run that.

 

[RoryBellows]

The fact that the USA imported half of its car sales last year tells you that people don’t want to be forced to buy American cars, just like British people don’t want to be forced to buy British built cars etc.

I’m pretty sure (on the whole) that what’s going on is not what the Americans voted for.

They aren't being forced. Its just that cars from other countries are now going to cost more to get into the US so either manufacturers will have less margin on them or they will be less competitive on cost when put against American made cars. If an American wants a Japan made Lexus they are going to still get it. I imagine that cars like Ferraris will just cost more and trucks like a Silverado will start being built in America.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Last night I decided I'm not going to venture down the 'buy an Emira' road. F** Trump and he and Elon's baby tantrums. GL guys, maybe in four years I can think about it again lol.


Jerome

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Last night I decided I'm not going to venture down the 'buy an Emira' road. F** Trump and he and Elon's baby tantrums. GL guys, maybe in four years I can think about it again lol.


Jerome

Plenty of cars available on lots right now. Why not buy one of those?

 

[ShootingSight]

Picked mine up from the dealer yesterday, hours before the tariffs were announced. But I suspected they were coming, so I had started asking around.

As far as I understood, when I put down my deposit in October, I signed a sales agreement that said I would pay MSRP of $103,000, or some such. The chain of ownership is Lotus UK, to Lotus USA, to the dealer, to me. Tariffs are paid by Lotus USA, the importer, and are part of the MSRP. Since I have a contract, and have given them a deposit, that's it. They are required to sell me the car for the price listed on that contract. THey do not have the option of backing out, or of increasing the price.

For orders going forward, I'm sure they will be increasing MSRP to reflect the increased tariffs, but for cars ordered before tariffs and delivered after tariffs, I think Lotus just has to take the loss.

While building cars in the US is one way out of this, the other is to get European governments to drop their import duty and VAT on American made cars. Right now, the number of American made cars that are shipped to Europe is a way fewer than the number of European cars shipped to the US, so dropping the European import duty and VAT is a lot less money than paying the extra 25% on US bound cars.

 

[JohnnyB]

Picked mine up from the dealer yesterday, hours before the tariffs were announced. But I suspected they were coming, so I had started asking around.

As far as I understood, when I put down my deposit in October, I signed a sales agreement that said I would pay MSRP of $103,000, or some such. The chain of ownership is Lotus UK, to Lotus USA, to the dealer, to me. Tariffs are paid by Lotus USA, the importer, and are part of the MSRP. Since I have a contract, and have given them a deposit, that's it. They are required to sell me the car for the price listed on that contract. THey do not have the option of backing out, or of increasing the price.

For orders going forward, I'm sure they will be increasing MSRP to reflect the increased tariffs, but for cars ordered before tariffs and delivered after tariffs, I think Lotus just has to take the loss.

While building cars in the US is one way out of this, the other is to get European governments to drop their import duty and VAT on American made cars. Right now, the number of American made cars that are shipped to Europe is a way fewer than the number of European cars shipped to the US, so dropping the European import duty and VAT is a lot less money than paying the extra 25% on US bound cars.

When I ordered, I was given the two page Lotus USA pricing PDF and I have thought that there was a strong chance for those of us with orders in before the tariff announcement would be bound to the MSRP pricing we agreed to. However, I don't see the tariffs as being permanent, it's a negotiating tactic and the UK is negotiating with the US government now to avoid the tariff increase.

 

[GreyGhost_1776]

My V6 order was accepted by the factory March 6th. Deposit was placed and suspect they will stick with contract based on MSRP build at that time. That said, I also don't believe the tariffs will be permanent as the administration is wanting equalization.

 

[Jinba ittai]

My V6 order was accepted by the factory March 6th. Deposit was placed and suspect they will stick with contract based on MSRP build at that time. That said, I also don't believe the tariffs will be permanent as the administration is wanting equalization.

What’s equalization? When there’s no trade deficit with other countries? That might be a while when you are the richest country in the world.

 

[RoryBellows]

Last night I decided I'm not going to venture down the 'buy an Emira' road. F** Trump and he and Elon's baby tantrums. GL guys, maybe in four years I can think about it again lol.


Jerome

Shouldn't you at least wait and see what the actual impact is on Emira cost before you rage quit on it?

 

[kitkat]

Shouldn't you at least wait and see what the actual impact is on Emira cost before you rage quit on it?

Agreed, politics aside, there are a number of lightly used V6 Emiras available out there. If you don't want to spend $140K on an Emira with tariffs there are some going for mid 80s to low 90s.

 

[ToonFan]

Assuming policy doesn't change early next week, the importer will have to pay the tariff/tax prior to release from customs. Lotus UK won't see that bill as it is the importer on record that gets that hit. The amount would be based on the "cost" of the car at importation prior to any markup from the seller(Lotus USA and selling dealership). Since taxes and delivery fees vary, it is quite likely that whatever the importer decides to pass on will be the responsibility of the dealer and the consumer. This is going to get messy for a load of people.

 

[Dragoon]

What’s equalization? When there’s no trade deficit with other countries? That might be a while when you are the richest country in the world.

He's referring to an equalization in tariffs. The UK applies a 10% tariff on cars imported from the US. On top of the 10% tariff, a 20% Value Added Tax (VAT) is levied on the total value of the car at the point of entry, which includes the car's cost, shipping, insurance, and the tariff itself. For example, a $30,000 U.S.-made car would incur a $3,000 tariff, bringing the taxable value to $33,000, then add $6,600 in VAT, making the total landed cost $39,600 before other fees (like registration). It seems reasonable that we would charge them the same.