Auto and Motor Vehicle Wholesalers NAICS 423110

Nov 20, 2025 - Auto Industry Braces for Increased Port Fees

• Automakers importing vehicles into the US are bracing for higher logistics costs after new federal port fees increased charges on foreign-built vessels. Much of the industry relies on roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships - large carriers designed for wheeled cargo like cars, SUVs, and trucks that are driven on and off the vessel rather than lifted by cranes. With fees rising from $14 to $46 per net ton, shipping companies estimate an added $200-$300 per vehicle, a cost that ultimately pressures automakers’ pricing, margins, and import strategies. Wallenius Wilhelmsen, one of the world’s largest Ro-Ro operators, has paused its 2025 financial outlook and expects as much as $100 million in new costs this quarter alone. The uncertainty around how these fees interact with other trade measures adds further complication. If absorbed into supply chains, these increases could push automakers to adjust sourcing, renegotiate shipping contracts, or pass higher costs to consumers.
• Battery-powered cars will make up half of all US auto sales by 2039, according to a forecast by consultancy EY, a delay of five years from previous projections. The adjusted forecast reflects a changed political reality with regards to Electric Vehicles (EVs) as the Trump administration eliminated EV targets for automakers and cancelled a $7,500 consumer tax credit for buying an EV. The US now stands to fall behind other countries in the EV race, particularly China. US consumers had already been skeptical of EVs due to their high price and a lack of sufficient charging infrastructure across the country. As a result, EY expects that market penetration for EVs will stay relatively flat at 11% of US auto sales in the next four years, up from 8.1% in 2024. By contrast, EVs are forecasted to make up 70% of auto sales in China by 2039.

• The Manheim Used Vehicle Index (MUVI), which tracks used car wholesale prices at auction, rose to its highest level in three years. The index rose 1.6% in June over the previous month, and was up 6.3% year over year, as tariff-driven price hikes and related supply shortages on new cars ripple down into the used vehicle market. Price appreciation on new cars and a surge of pre-tariff car purchases is translating into used car supply shortages as consumers keep cars longer and don’t trade in three-year leases after the term. Leasing trade-ins are a prime source of used car supply - when consumers choose to keep their leased vehicle instead, used car inventory plummets. In addition, MUVI has become something of an inflation indicator as it performed similarly in predicting inflation after the pandemic. Economists have increasingly looked to MUVI to gauge the likelihood of inflation.
• US new light vehicle seasonally adjusted annualized sales (SAAR) rose 2.1% year over year in February 2025, totaling 16 million units, according to NADA Market Beat. The results were a dip from December 2024, which had the highest monthly SAAR in almost four years. Wards Auto estimates that auto sales in February will be about 1 million vehicles. Total fleet inventory of new light vehicles in the US, however, plummeted 16.3% year over year to 210,000 units. The drop in inventory is a result of the supply problems from on-again, off-again tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, key automobile and auto parts US trade partners. “American made” cars are loaded with Canadian and Mexican parts, and NADA Market Beat predicts that if Trump’s threatened tariffs go into effect, it will raise the average price of new vehicles from $4,000 to $12,000.