Ford Rival VW Enacts Price Protection Through June

On the very same day that President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles, Ford launched its employee pricing for everyone plan, which has thus far been tremendously successful – prompting the automaker to extend it into early July. The Blue Oval will be raising prices slightly on its trio of Mexico-assembled models, however – the Ford Maverick pickup, Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover, and Ford Bronco Sport crossover – starting with shipments slated to arrive at dealers in late June. In the meantime, Ford’s rival (and partner), Volkswagen (VW), has enacted price protections on its vehicles sold in the U.S. through June.

VW has announced that it will hold its current pricing at existing MSRPs through next month, opting to absorb the costs of tariffs rather than pass them on to consumers. VW does built a variety of models in the U.S. already at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, including the Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, and ID.4, all of which tout a high level of domestic content. Regardless, VW is also extending price protection to the Golf GTI, Golf R, Tiguan, ID.Buzz, Jetta, and Taos.

It’s a different type of strategy than Subaru is taking, as that automaker announced that it’s raising prices, changes it says “were made to offset increased costs while maintaining a solid value proposition for the customer. Subaru pricing is not based on the country of origin of its products.” The company stopped short of citing tariffs as the reasoning behind these actions, though its price increases will range from $750 to $2,055 per vehicle, depending on the model and trim, and are set to take effect with vehicles landing on dealer lots in June. Subaru currently imports around 45 percent of its U.S. lineup.

Ford has said that it’s absorbing at least some of the costs of tariffs without passing them on to the consumer, and thus far, it isn’t cutting production as a result, either. However, the automaker also suspended its full year guidance until Q2 amid uncertainties pertaining to those same levies.