Hyundai Is The Latest Automaker To Say It Might Have To Raise Prices Due To Trump's Tariffs

Good morning! It's Friday, May 30 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, Hyundai is raising prices because of Trump's tariffs, Alfa Romeo kicks a new Stelvio down the road, Toyota is getting super serious about EVs in the U.S. and Volvo has to pause U.S. production for a parts shortage.

It's Friday, friends. Let's finish this week out strong.

Hyundai is getting ready to increase prices across the board on its U.S. vehicles as it looks for ways to cushion the blow of President Trump's tariff scheme. Luckily, not all of the added costs will pushed onto the consumer. Still, the South Korean automaker is apparently considering a 1% price increase across its entire lineup starting as soon as next week. The move would only apply to newly built vehicles, so cars on the lot right now won't be impacted. Act fast.

It won't be leaving the increases at that 1%, though. The company is also likely to raise shipping charges and prices of options like floor mats and roof rails that are installed before a vehicle arrives at the dealership. This'll certainly keep base prices in check more or less, but it's going to increase the overall price of a vehicle once you add a few options, plus there's no actual way to get out of a destination charge. From Bloomberg:

Hyundai said its pricing strategy is designed to ensure it remains competitive, but that no final decisions have been made.

"This period marks our regular annual pricing review, guided by market dynamics and consumer demand, independent of tariffs," the company said in a statement. "We will continue to adapt to shifts in supply and demand, and regulations, with a flexible pricing strategy and targeted incentive programs."

The move would be one of the most sweeping actions taken by an automaker in response to the steep tariffs Trump has imposed on imported cars and parts. Hyundai, among the top auto sellers in the US, had previously pledged to hold prices steady until June 2 for its namesake brand and the upscale Genesis line.

Hyundai Chief Executive Officer José Muñoz told Bloomberg last month that he didn't anticipate a sudden, large jump in prices but didn't say what was planned for later in the year.

Even though Hyundai has a massive assembly ground game in the U.S., it's still one of the largest importers of finished vehicles in the country. If you include Kia and Genesis, Hyundai imported about 1.1 million vehicles to the U.S. in 2024 — just behind industry leaders Toyota and General Motors who imported 1.2 million cars.

Following Trump's tariff announcement, Hyundai revealed plans to make a record $21 billion investment in the U.S. to bring more production stateside. At full capacity, the investment will allow the Hyundai Group to make 70% of what they sell in the U.S. at domestic plants.

Until those plans really get going, be prepared to pay more for your Hyundai, and be sure to thank Trump when you're signing the papers.

Poor Alfa Romeo, man. The Italian automaker is about to postpone the launch of a new version of its Stelvio crossover while it reassesses its strategies amid tepid demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. Previously, a new version of the crossover was set to be unveiled later this year and put on sale in the first quarter of 2026. Now, it's looking like production will not start before September or October of next year. That means the ancient Stelvio — which has been in production since 2016 — must soldier on. From Reuters:

Alfa Romeo – part of the Stellantis group which also owns Fiat, Jeep and Peugeot – is developing a hybrid version of the model, which was initially planned to be sold only in full-electric (EV) guise, a second source said.

The rescheduled launch could slow, at least in the short term, a wider plan to revive production and jobs in Italy that Stellantis presented to the Italian government at the end of last year.

[...]

Although the new Stelvio is based on Stellantis' multi-powertrain "STLA large" platform, it will take some time for the group to also develop its hybrid version, the second source said.

Assessments of powertrain options are not currently affecting plans for the new version of Alfa Romeo's Giulia sport sedan, whose launch is foreseen for next year, the same source added.

In 2024, Alfa sold just 3,162 Stelvios in the U.S., but because of how dismal the automaker is doing, it still was its second-best seller. It lost out to the equally slow-selling Tonale by 221 units. Yikes.

Toyota thinks Americans are finally ready to embrace U.S.-made EVs from the Japanese automaker, but it's no big deal if they aren't. Toyota's just going to export whatever is left over. Production of two American-made EVs is slated to begin next year — joining three new import EVs that Toyota plans to have in U.S. showrooms in the coming months as well as two that are already available. If this timeline sticks, then by the middle of 2027, there will be a total of seven Toyota EVs at U.S. dealerships. 

In addition to the bZ and Lexus RZ, Toyota will add three more import EVs in 2026: the bZ Woodland CH-R crossover and an electric Lexus ES.  From Bloomberg:

The new battery-powered cars will help fulfill the company's pledge to offer an electrified option for every model it makes globally by this year. So far, just under 80% of Toyota and its Lexus brand models sold in the US offer a hybrid or fully electric powertrain.

Toyota typically doesn't add a model to a plant unless it's confident it can sell 100,000 to 150,000 units a year once production fully ramps up. Company executives say they expect slow but steady growth in US EV sales. At the same time, faster adoption in overseas markets offers an outlet for any US production in excess of domestic demand.

"We'll sell a little bit more every year and grow with the market," Cooper Ericksen, a senior vice president in charge of planning and strategy at Toyota Motor North America, said in an interview. "But we have to think about how many Canada will use, how many the US will use, and we can then export to other global destinations."

Toyota's new 1,850-acre battery factory in Liberty, North Carolina will have 14 production lines, and 10 are dedicated to electric vehicle battery cells with the rest going to hybrid batteries. It will supply cells earmarked for two U.S.-made EVs. It's first hybrid battery line is expected to start up next month, and the rest will be brought online through 2034. The aim is for more than 30 gigawatt hours at full capacity. That works out to 800,000 hybrids, 150,0000 plug-in hybrids and 300,000 EV batteries.

A parts shortage has forced Volvo to halt production of the EX90 and Polestar 3 at its facility in Ridgeville, South Carolina. The stoppage happened at the end of last week, and right now there's no word on when output might resume or what part seems to be the issue. This freaking car company can't catch a break, man. From Automotive News:

"We are working to resume production as quickly as possible," [Volvo spokesperson Russell} Datz said.

[...]

Volvo, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding, is in the midst of a sweeping restructuring after reporting a 60 percent plunge in first-quarter operating income.

The automaker plans to slash costs by 8 billion Swedish krona ($1.87 billion) as it struggles with sluggish worldwide demand and high tariffs in the U.S., where it imports 90 percent of its volume.

The company's U.S. sales this year have risen 6.9 percent to 44,420 through April.

The factory employs over 2,000 people and has an annual capacity of about 150,000 vehicles. However, numbers have been well below that. Volvo produced an estimated 8,590 EX90s and 4,000 Polestar 3s last year.

Volvo is planning to expand production in the U.S., and that means it could potentially build the gas-powered XC90 or XC60 at the South Carolina plant. It certainly has the capacity to do so.

History.com

Today is Nissan's 91st birthday. Like all old people, it's gotten a bit stale and weird, but hopefully, it can find some sort of second wind and return to being totally kick-ass once again. You can read more about Nissan's founding on History.com

Babes, today is Friday. The next time I talk to you all, it's going to be June — Summer. I can't think of a better way to ring in this joyous news than with a certified bop like "Closer." Enjoy it.