Aston Martin cuts US exports as tariffs batter car industry: Mercedes, Stellantis and VW also sound the alarm over Trump trade war turmoil

Aston Martin is cutting exports to the United States as the industry reels from Donald Trump’s tariff wars.

The British-based James Bond car maker said that it will let American dealerships run down stock amid the uncertainty.

The announcement came as Peugeot-maker Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz became the latest car manufacturers to pull profit guidance as the chaos unleashed by Trump made financial forecasting impossible.

And German car maker Volkswagen said profits tumbled 40 per cent in the first three months of the year as it warned over the impact of the global trade war.

The flurry of updates – which highlight the repercussions of Trump’s tariffs on the car industry – came after Coventry-headquartered Jaguar Land Rover last month paused shipments to America in response to the White House’s policy.

The car industry was rocked when the President announced a 25 per cent charge on vehicle and part imports to the US in a bid to ramp up domestic manufacturing.

The White House was this week forced to climb down after a backlash from industry leaders who warned of higher prices and lower sales.

In a speech in Michigan – known as the car making capital of the world – to mark his first 100 days in office, Trump said manufacturers with factories in the US will be able to reduce the amount they pay in import taxes, depending on how many cars they sell and at what price.

The climbdown came after motor industry groups including General Motors, Toyota and VW wrote to the White House urging Trump to reverse course.

But geopolitical uncertainty continue to affect the industry, adding to existing problems including the transition to electric vehicles and depressed consumer demand.

Aston Martin boss Adrian Hallmark yesterday said the car maker would limit sales to the US, one of the company’s biggest markets.

The company reported a 13 per cent fall in first quarter revenues to £233.9million and a loss of £79.6million, although that was improvement on the £138.8million loss a year earlier. 

‘We are carefully monitoring the evolving US tariff situation and are limiting imports to the US while leveraging the stock held by our US dealers,’ Hallmark said.

Analysts said the setback could knock Aston Martin’s turnaround plan off track.

Aarin Chiekrie, of Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Given that the US accounted for nearly 40 per cent of its revenue last year, it’s difficult to imagine Aston Martin meeting its full-year targets unless tariffs are eased.’ 

Stellantis yesterday reported a 14 per cent drop in first quarter revenues to £30.4billion, driven by a slump in North American sales.

It said it was engaging ‘with policymakers on tariff policies, while taking action to reduce impacts’ as it pulled guidance for 2025.

Volkswagen said earnings have fallen 40 per cent since the start of the year to £1.9billion, although sales ticked up nearly 3 per cent to £66.1billion.

Mercedes-Benz said Trump’s tariff policy had caused an ‘exceptionally high level of uncertainty’. Revenue fell 7 per cent to £28.3billion in the first quarter.