HONOLULU (Island News) — Hawaii automobile dealers are bracing for the worst as steep tariffs will likely lead to rising vehicle prices and a drop in sales.
The latest Hawaii Auto Outlook report says new vehicle registrations are expected to decline in the second half of this year.
The market got off to a slow start in the first of this year.
New vehicle registrations fell about 3 percent during the first six months of 2025 when compared to the same time period last year.
Meantime — the overall U-S market improved to about 6 percent.
“The Hawaii Auto Outlook reflects sales that were last quarter, so we have not yet seen in these numbers the impact of any tariffs that were actually imposed,” Melissa Pavlicek, executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, told Island News. “What it reflects is consumers’ perceptions and because the announcement about tariffs has not just been on again, off again but applicable to different vehicles and different manufacturers, it’s not settled yet.”
The market is expected to move lower for the rest of the year, with second half registrations predicted to decline by 5.6 percent.
For the entire year — the market is expected to decline by about 4.5 percent.