hrhrmbny18

will European delivery eliminate/reduce the 20%?

hrhrmbny18

do you have pricing on 2019 e300v4 and 2019 s450v4? Thanks

Vodil

Since one would be importing a used (not new) care, would the tariffs apply to European Delivery?

E634Me

When doing the purchase through the European Delivery program, you sign the paperwork in the US to purchase the car a couple days before your scheduled delivery in Germany. You're buying a new US car at that time, and - I would think - that any duties and tariffs that are currently in effect at that time would apply.

If a new tariff rate is applied after your purchase, it doesn't seem like that would apply when your car gets imported to the US because otherwise that would be a retroactive tariff.

For licensing purposes in the US, the car is treated like a new car. I still had to pay all the California taxes just as if I were doing a regular purchase locally at the dealership.

visualguy

Not sure how this works... Seems likely that the tariff would be assessed when the car passes through customs in the US... I guess Mercedes could decide to absorb the extra tariffs if they were imposed between the time you signed the paperwork and the time the car goes through customs.

Carac

Exactly, tariffs are assessed at the port when passing through customs. So any cars sitting in dealer inventory would be safe...which means there will likely be a run on pre-tariff autos if/when the 20% hits.

visualguy

I think the question was about ED cars which are not dealer inventory - what happens if tariffs are increased before the car arrives in the US, but after the buyer signed the paperwork.

The other interesting question is what happens to cars that passed customs, but are still sitting at the port waiting for certs or MBUSA release. Will a distinction be made there, or will the price be raised by MBUSA on all cars (which are not yet shipped to the dealer) starting a certain date regardless of whether they passed customs or not.

I agree that there will be a run on pre-tariff cars in dealership inventory, which means that some dealers will most likely mark them up...

VPC_E63S

All I know is that I'm not paying 20% more for this car. I will just get something else - this whole process has been a huge PITA.

JTK44

I agree: MB, Audi, BMW will not be able to pass along a 20% tariff increase. Might just buy my 2016 E350 at the end of the lease!

jkob5

Agreed. I have an august build 19 e63s and if for whatever reason they charge an additional 20% there is no way I'm buying. 120k is crazy expensive as is considering how much it will depreciate.

visualguy

If these tariffs on autos and auto parts are imposed, the whole industry will raise prices in the US, not just the Germans. There will be no place to hide other than buying your leased car for the residual as you mentioned.

Carac

The sadder part is that Mercedes has already said they will just pass the 20% to the consumer because the share of cars they sell to the US compared to the rest of the world is so relatively marginal that they can take the hit in declining US sales due to higher prices.

JTK44

I think the figures are to the contrary:

For 2017 total MB sales were 2.289 million;

Sales in China were 584,000
Sales in US were 337,000
Sales in Germany were 303,000

So the US is MB second largest market and we get the most expensive cars. I suspect dollars of sales, vs number of vehicles the US is number one.

See: https://www.best-selling-cars.com/ch...ury-car-sales/

visualguy

Right, but I read that the US is a relatively low-margin market for MB/Audi/BMW (lower profit percentage on cars sold in the US).

Carac

Does that take into account margins? I believe the US enjoys the least expensive pricing and lowest margins of any country where Mercedes is sold. And it's not me saying they would simply pass the tariff to the consumer and call it a day, it's Mercedes themselves. They have no recourse other than to adjust sales figures when demand drops due to a tariff increasing prices. They're basically saying "it would be a shame but *shrug* what can we do about it? A $100k S-Class is now $125k"

Let's just hope they never come to fruition. Also, I think the proposed tariff is now 25%.

JTK44

I have been to Europe literally hundreds of times and the Mercedes I have seen there, (as well as BMW and Audi) as compared to what we get here, are 'striped down versions". For example, I have seen MB without electric windows, sunroofs, back up cameras and many cheaper models that we do not get. For example it is very rare to see an E class with a V6 and almost never an AMG, most being powered by 4 cylinder gas and/or diesel.

It is my impression that the models we get are loaded with extras and as everyone knows, extras are where manufacturers make their money: the more extras, the higher the price on any given model and hence the greater the profit per model.

So I would think that the US is a huge profit center for MB, but I could be wrong.

VPC_E63S

Interesting that the number one US car/truck export to Europe is the BMW X3:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...iffs-drop-to-0

78degrees

You are wrong.
Just compare the price og two identical cars in Germany and US, the US car is a lot cheaper..

By the way, EU should be considered as a single market..

JTK44

Did you take out the VAT on the EU model?

V70cat

Carac

You probably won't get any discount on an ordered car unless you're a member of an organization that has a fleet sales program with Mercedes, especially at the beginning of the model year. But who knows, you might find a generous dealership.

susman@eurogermantown.com

I do some off orders

susman@eurogermantown.com

jkob5

I called 2 dealers. Both were willing to pre-discount an ordered car....significantly. I am not anyone special. This is on a 2019 august build. No reason to pay MSRP.

visualguy

It depends on location. In some locations, demand far exceeds build slot availability, and dealers have no reason to discount. A well-known example is the Bay Area.