Maybe we just need to get our heads around the idea that all times these days are “unprecedented.”
I’m tired of tariff talk if I’m being honest. The news shifts so often that the details and the question of impact are hard to follow. We’re well aware that tariffs will drive up prices and make a bad problem worse. But what’s the on-the-ground reality?
Talking with dealers statewide, it’s clear they are adapting and planning as best they can for volatility. But in other ways, this is business as usual. Sometimes, they have to reassure consumers amid a murky policy landscape.
Tariffs aren’t killing sales yet. Virginia registrations were up in April over a year earlier, and hybrids continue to grow in popularity as BEV sales remain flat. Parts teams are the ones bracing for the initial impact.
The challenge is the uncertainty.
“It’s been a wild ride through the ideological car wash,” says Tim Pohanka, VADA PAC chairman with the Pohanka Automotive Group. “You’ve got two camps: the political and the apolitical. The political folks come in hot. Depending on the day and their mood, our tariff ads have made me everything from a mouthpiece for the administration to a secret agent for the opposition. Apparently, I’m a one-man bipartisan crisis. I do my best to talk with them — dialogue helps — but often, the issue isn’t politics. It’s confusion.”
The apolitical crowd, Tim says, tends to be more curious. “But they’re still trying to figure out what these tariffs actually mean for them,” he says. “The on-again, off-again nature of the tariff news has everyone second-guessing what’s real. It’s like trying to follow the plot of a soap opera when you’ve missed a few episodes. You’re not totally sure who’s being written out or what’s blowing up next.”
Planning is nearly impossible. Many dealers are in “wait-and-see” mode.
“We have seen used vehicle pricing moving up due to the market being pulled ahead by the threat of higher pricing,” one Richmond dealer tells me. “With the increase in used vehicle demand, the costs of acquiring these used vehicles have also increased. Of course, used vehicle costs typically increase this time of year due to seasonal demand, so it may be difficult to attribute everything going on in the market to tariff panic-buying.”
That’s the message I want to drive home: Our industry isn’t defined by downturns or policy debates. It’s defined by resilience, and in good times and bad, dealers will do what they’ve always done — adapt, compete and move forward. I’ve seen it through recessions, gas shortages and, yes, even pandemics. We sell cars, and we figure it out.
“I’m not too concerned. It will be what it will be, and we will adapt,” Country Chevrolet’s Andy Budd tells me. “There will be no unaffected dealers, so I think the playing field will be pretty level. Consumers will adjust. I think high-end imports will be most affected, but those buyers are so affluent it won’t really matter. The leasing subsidies will increase to offset the tariffs and the used vehicle values will rise, so long term, I don’t see any major market turmoil.”
Years ago, the late, great Virginia Sen. John Warner told a room full of Virginia auto dealers in Washington, D.C., the following, and I’ve never forgotten it. Popping his head into our meeting room, the distinguished gentleman from Virginia exclaimed, “Our home is our castle. Our car is our freedom. God bless the dealers of Virginia!”
Yes, the world is shifting beneath our feet — politically, economically and technologically. But that’s been the case for the last century.
Inflation, interest rates and political dysfunction are real. But so is this: Cars are still being sold and will continue to be sold.
We can’t control every challenge, but we can control how we respond. So stay informed. Stay engaged. And stay optimistic. Because while the headlines may shift by the hour, one thing stays true: Virginians still need cars. And it’s our job to make sure they get them — fairly, affordably and with the freedom John Warner so passionately believed in.
