Tag Archives: Tariffs

News

Cupra Pushes for EU Tariff Relief on Chinese-Built Tavascan

By the time Cupra decided to build the all-electric Tavascan in China, it looked like a straightforward business case. Europe didn’t have the spare factory capacity, the numbers worked, and tariffs weren’t even a talking point. Fast-forward to today, and the coupe-SUV has become a rolling test case for how flexible—or stubborn—the European Union plans to be as Chinese-built EVs flood the continent.

Now, there’s a hint of a thaw.

Cupra’s Chinese-assembled Tavascan is at the center of a growing political and industrial debate over the EU’s punitive import duties. Currently, the car is hit with a 20.7 percent “countervailing duty” on top of the standard 10 percent tariff, a surcharge designed to counter alleged state subsidies for Chinese EV manufacturing. But pressure is building for an exemption—or at least a compromise—and not just from within the Volkswagen Group.

At the official opening of Cupra’s new battery plant in Barcelona, Catalonia’s president Salvador Illa I Roca publicly urged Brussels to rethink the levy. Calling the tariff “unfair” and damaging to “strategic investments,” Illa signaled that both regional and Spanish governments are ready to work toward its removal. The message was clear: this isn’t just about one car—it’s about Europe’s broader industrial future.

Behind the scenes, Cupra has been lobbying hard. The proposal on the table reportedly involves an annual import quota and a minimum import price, conditions that would allow the brand to avoid the additional 20.7 percent surcharge without opening the floodgates to cheap imports. According to Seat-Cupra CEO Markus Haupt, talks with EU officials are progressing well. A decision could arrive within a month or two.

Don’t expect a sudden price slash if the deal goes through. Cupra chose not to pass the tariff hit on to customers when it was introduced, absorbing the cost instead. In Spain, the Tavascan starts at €44,010; in the UK, it opens at £47,350, where only the standard 10 percent duty applies. Any tariff relief would mainly boost Cupra’s margins rather than transform the showroom sticker.

As a product, the Tavascan makes a solid case for itself regardless of politics. The rear-wheel-drive V1 version packs a 77-kWh battery, delivers up to 337 miles of range, and sends 282 horsepower to the rear axle. The result is a 0–62 mph time of 6.8 seconds—respectable pace for a style-led electric SUV that leans more toward design flair than outright performance.

But the real significance of a tariff relaxation goes far beyond Cupra.

A long list of European brands build EVs in China and ship them back west: Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Dacia, and MINI among them. Each case would have to be assessed individually by the EU, especially where Chinese ownership or joint ventures complicate the picture. That’s where things get messy.

MINI, for example, could be a bellwether for the UK. BMW has already paused plans to build the electric MINI hatch at Plant Oxford, opting instead to produce the Electric and Aceman models in China through Spotlight Automotive, a 50:50 joint venture with Great Wall Motors. Like the Tavascan, these cars are subject to the additional 20.7 percent duty. If MINI were to secure similar tariff relief, it could improve margins on Chinese imports—but possibly at the cost of continued delays to UK production.

Other brands have taken more drastic action. Geely-owned Volvo shifted EX30 production to Ghent, Belgium, specifically to dodge tariffs. Dacia plans to move assembly of the next-generation Spring EV from Wuhan to Slovenia by 2026. It’s a costly workaround, but one that guarantees certainty in an unpredictable regulatory climate.

Cupra doesn’t have that option. Volkswagen Group says Europe simply couldn’t accommodate Tavascan production, pushing the model into a joint venture with JAC Motors in China, where it’s also sold domestically as the ID.UNYX. And moving production back now? That’s off the table.

“We already invested the money there,” Haupt explains. “Reinvesting in the same product is probably not the best solution.” For Cupra, negotiating with Brussels isn’t just preferable—it’s the only viable path forward.

If the EU does soften its stance, the Tavascan could become the precedent that reshapes how Europe treats its own brands building cars in China. If it doesn’t, expect more production shifts, more factory reshuffles, and more strategic gymnastics as automakers try to stay one step ahead of tariffs that can turn a profitable EV into a financial headache overnight.

Either way, the Tavascan’s most important role may not be on the road—but at the negotiating table.

Source: Cupra

News

Ineos Feels the Squeeze: Tariffs, Debt, and the Future of Britain’s Back-to-Basics Off-Roader

The no-nonsense, square-jawed off-roader from Britain’s youngest carmaker has hit a patch as rough as any rutted trail it was built to conquer. According to multiple reports in the British press, Ineos Automotive is preparing to cut several hundred jobs—an outsized blow for a company that employs just over 1,700 people worldwide. The catalyst? A cocktail of rising American tariffs and mounting financial pressure across the wider Ineos business empire.

Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who built his reputation—and fortune—in petrochemicals, launched the automotive division with a singular mission: create a spiritual successor to the old-school Land Rover Defender after its original production ended. That idea eventually became the Grenadier, a body-on-frame, locking-diff, hose-out-the-interior 4×4 aimed squarely at enthusiasts who prefer rivets and recovery points over touchscreens and massage seats.

But the global market hasn’t been kind. The U.S. is Ineos Automotive’s single most important destination, and Washington’s latest round of tariffs has effectively inflated the price of every Grenadier that crosses the Atlantic. For a small manufacturer still in its growth phase, that hit has proven painful.

Insiders say Ineos will reduce administrative headcount in the U.K. and across several European offices, while maintaining staffing levels at its French manufacturing site. And the macro picture isn’t helping: Ratcliffe’s much larger petrochemical operations are carrying significant debt, adding further pressure to rein in spending across the group.

Meanwhile, the Grenadier Soldiers On

Financial drama aside, the product itself remains one of the most interesting entries in today’s SUV landscape. Both the Grenadier and its pickup sibling, the Quartermaster, recently entered the Bosnian market, continuing a slow but steady global rollout. Built on traditional engineering values—solid construction, physical buttons, and hardware that actually works off-road—the pair stand in stark contrast to the crossover-heavy, touchscreen-obsessed direction of most mainstream brands.

Under the hood, Ineos turned to BMW for motivation. Buyers can opt for a 3.0-liter inline-six turbodiesel with 249 hp and 550 Nm, good enough to push the nearly 4.9-meter, 2.7-ton Grenadier to 100 km/h in 9.9 seconds before topping out at a limited 160 km/h. The turbocharged gasoline variant ups output to 286 hp and 450 Nm, shaving the sprint to 8.6 seconds—though the same 160 km/h ceiling applies. Power flows to both axles via a familiar and robust ZF 8-speed automatic transmission.

These aren’t numbers that will impress anyone coming from a modern performance SUV, but that’s not the point. The Grenadier and Quartermaster were engineered to survive the sort of terrain where aero drag and 0–100 bragging rights stop mattering.

A Rough Patch, but Not the End of the Trail

For customers—and there are many—who crave an unapologetically analog, mechanically honest 4×4, Ineos represents something rare in 2025: a company willing to build an SUV the old way. The hope among fans is that this period of financial turbulence is temporary, and that Ratcliffe’s team manages to steer the brand back toward calmer waters.

If the Grenadier can climb mountains, perhaps Ineos Automotive can climb out of this financial rut too. Only this time, the obstacles aren’t rocks, mud, or sand—but tariffs, debt, and economics.

Source: Ineos Automotive

News

BMW Canada to Hike Prices Across the Lineup as U.S. SUV Imports Resume

BMW Canada is about to restart shipments of its most important vehicles—the Spartanburg-built X-series SUVs—even if doing so means swallowing one of the nastiest tariff cocktails in the auto industry.

After a months-long pause triggered by Canada’s retaliatory 25 percent tariff on U.S.-built cars (a response to President Donald Trump’s global auto import levy), Canadian dealers are bracing for fresh arrivals of the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and the halo XM. For retailers, the move comes not a moment too soon. Inventory of Spartanburg models has been all but drained, leaving showrooms short on BMW’s biggest moneymakers.

The gap hit hard. The X3 and X5—BMW’s Canadian best-sellers in 2024—fell 25 percent in sales by Q2 of this year. Together, U.S.-built SUVs once accounted for more than half of BMW Canada’s business. By mid-2025, they were down to just 38 percent. Dealers say the X1, X2, and i4 helped cushion the blow, but for many stores, losing the X3 and X5 felt like losing the spine of the lineup.

Still, BMW Canada somehow eked out a 5.3 percent sales gain in Q2 thanks to a surge in European imports. But ask any retailer, and they’ll tell you the comeback of Spartanburg SUVs is about survival, not just growth.

The Tariff Math: Brutal

Getting them back on the lot won’t be cheap. Because Spartanburg’s SUVs don’t meet the 75 percent North American content threshold under the USMCA—thanks largely to engines and transmissions shipped in from Europe—they’re sitting ducks for double duty. First comes the U.S.’s 25 percent tariff on imported parts. Then Canada slaps on its own 25 percent countertariff, plus a 6.1 percent most-favored-nation duty. The all-in hit? Roughly 31 percent.

On a $100,000 X5, that’s about $31,100 in tariffs alone—before transport, dealer margins, or profit. To spread the pain, BMW Canada isn’t just raising prices on U.S.-built SUVs; it’s hiking stickers across the entire lineup. Tariff-free models like the X1 and 3 Series will get pricier too, a move dealers hope will keep Spartanburg vehicles from looking prohibitively expensive.

What’s Next

There’s a glimmer of relief ahead. Dealers say a plug-in hybrid BMW X3 built in South Africa is bound for Canadian shores, sidestepping the tariff squeeze entirely. But for now, customers who want an X3, X5, or XM will pay more—possibly a lot more.

In the near term, though, most BMW dealers seem willing to take that tradeoff. “We can’t survive on just X1s and 3 Series,” one dealer told Automotive News. “We need Spartanburg back, whatever the cost.”

BMW Canada may not be saying much officially, but the message is clear: tariffs or not, the SUV backbone of the brand is rolling north again.

Source: BMW