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(Bloomberg) — Car shoppers are descending on showrooms. Automakers are speeding up shipments of new vehicles. Dealers are huddling with their rivals to exchange ideas on how best to cope. 

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And a Hyundai Motor Co. sales executive urged retailers not let the opportunity pass by: “The focus should now be….SELLING TO A RECORD!!!!” the memo exhorted. 

Whether Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles achieve the president’s goal of revitalizing domestic auto manufacturing remains to be seen, but the levies that start April 3 are almost certain to push up the prices of new models if they stay in force for more than a few months. Across the country, buyers and sellers are rushing to lock down deals and fill lots before they take effect. 

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Chevrolet dealer Duane Paddock says that in the past three days General Motors Co. has sent him twice as much inventory — about 100 vehicles — as he normally gets in a week. The automaker is rushing shipments amid a stampede of customers that have come to his showroom looking to get ahead of the higher costs. Many of the new arrivals are Equinox, Trailblazer and Trax, imports that are among Chevy’s least expensive models.

“GM has accelerated the build,” said Paddock, the owner of Paddock Chevrolet in suburban Buffalo, New York. “We’ve got a boatload of vehicles in transit and our floor traffic has been through the roof.”

US dealerships are sitting on about 60 to 90 days of inventory on average, providing them with a cushion against the immediate effects of the tariffs. 

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What happens after that supply runs out remains unclear. Analysts say that automakers will most likely absorb some of the higher costs, dealers may see a hit to profitability and consumers will pay the rest. But exactly how that’s all balanced out is anyone’s guess at this point.

“It’s going to affect used car prices and new car prices most definitely, but at what rate?” said Rhett Ricart, the chief executive officer of dealerships selling several brands in the Columbus, Ohio, area. “It’s like trying to figure out a Ouija board. Everything is based on surmising.”

Auto dealers have already had to do a lot of that over the past couple months, whipsawed by Trump’s on-again, off-again threats of tariffs on an array of trading partners and products. That’s come on top of vehicle prices that remain stubbornly high and lofty interest rates that have conspired to push the average new-car monthly payment well above $600.

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Automakers will start releasing first-quarter sales numbers next week. Analysts say the year started slightly better than last year, pushed up by tariff-wary shoppers in March. They caution that sustained tariffs will weaken sales in the coming quarter.

Trump himself, asked on Friday whether car shoppers should rush to buy now to get ahead of the tariffs, said “No, I don’t think so.” He again touted an idea to make interest charges on loans for cars built in the US tax deductible, and predicted manufacturers would quickly expand production in America. Hyundai was the first to move, announcing a $21 billion US expansion March 24.

Kevin Farrish, the owner of a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership in Fairfax, Virginia, says now is the time to get ahead of the tariffs. He says that Stellantis NV boosted production of its Mexican-made heavy-duty Ram pickup trucks toward the end of last year, so there’s “ample” supply on the ground.

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“The customers right now are going to get the best selection of pre-tariffed cars,” Farrish said. “If you’re in the market over the next three to four months for a car, April is your month.”

Hyundai is encouraging its dealers to see the looming tariff price increases as a selling opportunity, according to a memo sent by a regional sales manager reviewed by Bloomberg News. But the note acknowledged the uncertainty about exactly how things will play out. The company is “closely monitoring the possible impact,” the note said. 

Ricart said he was at a meeting in Dallas with 20 large dealers from across the US this week, and the consensus in the room was that the tariffs will definitely raise prices for new and used models.

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“It’s going to get insane,” he said. “New-car prices will go up, so used-car prices will go up.”

Tariffs will hit a $240 billion trade route, with imported cars and light trucks accounting for about half of the roughly 16 million vehicles sold in the US last year. 

By May 3, tariffs will expand to key parts such as engines, transmissions and electrical systems, with the potential to broaden out further. Parts that comply with rules in the free-trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico will be initially spared from the tariffs, until the Commerce Department stands up a process to tax non-US content in those parts. 

Auto prices are broadly expected to increase by thousands of dollars, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts estimating prices will jump 11% on average.

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That could put many cars out of reach for buyers already struggling to afford new vehicles that now cost nearly $50,000 on average. The pain may be especially acute for the least expensive cars, many of which are imported from countries with lower labor costs.

Consumers are rushing to buy now even as they grow worried about what the future holds. Consumer confidence plunged 12% in March, according to the University of Michigan’s latest survey, which cited general economic uncertainty as a primary factor.

David Kelleher, the owner of a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership in Philadelphia, said he has about 60 days worth of inventory, but he worried that tariffs will slow demand once the existing supply of cars is depleted.

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“It’s not a supply that’s gonna last forever,” Kelleher said. 

Ricart, the Columbus-area dealer, is also worried about what’s next after the frenzy. He had prepared ads urging customers to buy a car before prices go up, but is now having second thoughts about running them.

“Do I really want to hyper-speed my sales?” Ricart said. “Then you run out of price-protected inventory.”

Keith Wahl, 77, was shopping at a Hyundai dealership in suburban Detroit on Friday, with his eye on a cherry-red 2024 Kia Sorento SUV, which had been marked down from $41,385 to $35,598. With the $14,000 trade-in value of his 2017 Buick Envision, he estimates the Sorento will cost about $20,000.

“I’ve been looking, but with what Donald Trump did, it’s pushing me to make a decision sooner than I had planned,” said Wahl, who’d read that sticker prices could go up anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000. “If they’re going up that much, it would put me out of the picture for buying a car.”

—With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron.

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