US President Donald Trump’s decision this week to increase the import tariff on foreign-made vehicles by a factor of 10 is set to have major impacts on the automotive industry, including those which build cars in the nation.
From April 2, 2025, all vehicles imported to the US will be slugged with a 25 per cent tariff, 10 times higher than the existing 2.5 per cent duty tax.
While even the US ‘Big Three’ – Ford, General Motors, Stellantis – tried to push back against the new tariff, European niche brand Ineos Automotive has criticised its own region’s lawmakers for their perceived inaction against the upcoming tax.
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The UK-headquartered off-road vehicle specialist produces just one model – the Grenadier – exclusively in France, which is powered by a choice of BMW petrol and diesel engines made in Germany or Austria, mated to a German ZF automatic transmission.
“We are outraged that the tariff situation with the US has been neglected by the EU,” an Ineos Automotive media statement read.
“President Trump has been very clear on his intention to implement tariffs on the auto industry. He has been asking for fairness and reciprocity and yet European leaders have not come to the table to negotiate a better solution.
“The US government has also been clear about the consequences of non-engagement. This should be a surprise to no-one in the EU, and it could and should have been averted.”
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Lynn Calder
Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder also called for EU leaders to take action against the tariffs, claiming they are the only ones who can change the implementation of the tax by negotiating with President Trump.
“This is what happens when politicians sit on their hands,” Ms Calder said.
“As a growing EU-based automobile brand, we are vulnerable to tariffs, and we need our politicians to support our business. We need EU politicians to resolve this urgently. The situation will only get worse without urgent and direct political intervention on tariffs.
“We will give whatever support we can to our political leaders to keep the playing field even for small, competitive brands such as Grenadier. But we must see action from EU politicians: only they are in a position to address the issue.
“Fortunately, we have been planning for tariffs but there is only so much we can do to protect US customers from price rises.”
Despite its European roots, Ineos Automotive has previously said North America was its largest region for orders when it started taking expressions of interest for the Grenadier.
While the Ineos Grenadier is sold in the US as a five-seat Station Wagon and its Quartermaster dual-cab ute guise, the US doesn’t get the two-seat Utility Wagon available in Australia and other markets.
The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on vans and ‘light trucks’ – pickups and utes – made overseas since 1964, which would include two-seat commercial vehicles such as the Grenadier Utility Wagon.
The impacts of the upcoming tariff could compound a problematic 12 months for Ineos, which in September 2024 suspended production of the Grenadier after seat supplier Recaro filed for insolvency in Germany two months earlier.
Recaro was later taken over by Italian automotive manufacturing firm Proma Group – which itself makes vehicle seats and structural parts – and production of the Grenadier subsequently restarted in January.
The Hambach factory where the Grenadier is made has also been given extra space, resulting in increased production capacity, however the SUV will be its only model for the foreseeable future.
The Ineos Fusulier, a smaller electric SUV expected to slot under the Grenadier, was initially due to launch in 2027, but was put on ice last year due to “reluctant consumer uptake of EVs, and industry uncertainty around tariffs, timings and taxation”, Ineos said in July.
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