By Anthony Henson, July 31, 2025
The luxury car brands of the European auto industry—Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz—have begun to pass the rising cost of U.S. tariffs directly onto consumers, exposing once again the brutal calculus of a system that prioritises shareholder returns over social stability, labour rights, or economic sovereignty. The new 15% import tariff on EU-made cars, the product of backdoor trade machinations and nationalist sabre-rattling, marks a quiet but profound rupture in the globalised trade order—a world now unravelling under the weight of its contradictions.
Porsche, an emblem of opulence and engineered precision, raised U.S. prices by up to 3.6% in July. The brand’s CEO, Oliver Blume, cloaked the announcement in corporate stoicism: “This is not a storm that will pass,” he warned, after revealing a staggering $462 million hit from tariffs in just six months. Yet Porsche has no intention of relocating production to the U.S. to shield itself—such commitments to domestic labor, to national resilience, are beneath the logic of capital.
Aston Martin, the British marque draped in myth and nostalgia, has likewise raised prices and issued a profit warning, felled not only by U.S. tariffs but also the longer, slower bleed of suppressed Asian demand. These are not isolated flukes but symptoms of a broader disintegration—of global markets imploding under financial speculation, political incoherence, and ecological stress.
Volkswagen, Hyundai, and General Motors have already tallied their losses in the billions. But they remain, for now, unwilling to reveal their hand. That, analysts suggest, will come in the second half of the year, when price hikes may be masked as “strategic adjustments” or “market realignments”—the usual euphemisms for corporate indifference to public suffering.
There will be no salvation in backroom deals. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius, speaking as both executive and president of Europe’s car lobby, declared the 15% tariff the new status quo, dashing hopes for sector-specific exemptions. Even Volkswagen’s faint optimism about negotiating lower tariffs has withered, as Blume—who now also leads the Volkswagen Group—echoed Kaellenius’ resignation: “There will not be a separate automotive deal.”
These are not mere industry fluctuations; they are signs of a financial system in decay.