Major automaker executives raised concerns at the New York show this week about the possibility of a trade war after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports earlier this month, a media report said.
"Protectionism doesn't have winners," Hinrich Woebcken, Volkswagen's North American chief executive, told Reuters.
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"When you start to raise bars, you are bringing an imbalance of trade that will not produce any winners."
The news agency noted US president Donald Trump had criticised Germany for levying tariffs on vehicles shipped from the US and threatened to impose higher tariffs on German-made vehicles which has made executives nervous in a global industry. The Trump administration has also proposed tariffs on Chinese goods.
"Everybody who does a lot of business with China would be concerned about a trade war," said Cadillac chief Johan de Nysschen. "A trade war would be harmful to that so we all hope that it does not happen." China is critical to Cadillac's future growth strategy, GM chief executive Mary Barra had told investors on Wednesday.
Jack Hollis, Toyota's North American head of sales and marketing, told Reuters tariffs would mean higher prices.
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By GlobalData"We'll all just have to raise prices … because there's no way you can absorb" all that extra cost, he said.
John Bozzella, head of Global Automakers, which represents Toyota, Hyundai, Honda and others, told the news agency the trade group was pushing to convince policymakers the tariffs do not make sense as automakers export 2m vehicles annually from the US.
Audi US head Scott Keogh, head of Audi brand, told Reuters the US car market was built on "stability and confidence and we need to continue that".
"If you look at the number one correlation that drives luxury car sales, it's consumer confidence," he said.
