Ford Motor Co. customers waiting to purchase a vehicle this summer could be in store for higher prices if President Donald Trump's tariffs remain unchanged.

Andrew Frick, president of vehicle divisions Ford Blue and Model e, alerted dealers Wednesday that if trade policy continues as has been outlined, the company could make adjustments to the manufacturer's suggested retail price on May production, according to a memo obtained by The Detroit News. Those vehicles would arrive at dealerships in late June or early July, according to dealers who saw the memo and a Ford spokesperson.

Trump's 25% tariff on vehicles imported to the United States went into effect earlier this month — the same day the Blue Oval announced a new "From America, For America" campaign that offers customers discounts of thousands of dollars typically reserved for its employees. That is set to end on June 2, and Frick reiterated the company's commitment to that.

“We will not increase the MSRP for any vehicle currently in inventory with our Ford and Lincoln dealers, and our employee pricing offer will remain in the market through June 2, 2025, as advertised,” Frick wrote in the letter. “However, in the absence of material changes to the tariff policy as articulated to date, we anticipate the need to make vehicle pricing adjustments in the future, which is expected to happen with May production.”

Despite Trump stating that the auto tariffs are "permanent, 100%" when he announced them, the president this week suggested he could provide some help with respect to auto parts and give companies extra time to move manufacturing to the United States. The 25% duty on certain vehicle components is set to take effect on May 3.

Ford imports a few products from outside the United States: The Maverick small pickup, Bronco Sport SUV and electric Mustang Mach-E crossover are built in Mexico, and the Lincoln Nautilus comes from China. About 80% of the products it sells here, however, are made in the United States, and it makes more vehicles in the country than any other automaker.

Ford overall finished March with 64 days of supply on the ground at dealers ahead of announcing the discounts.

"We are 100 percent committed to our From America, For America employee pricing commitment through June 2, and we are not changing the price of any of our existing inventory," the automaker said in a statement. "Customers will have a lot of choices, and we have plenty of inventory to choose from through June 2.

"The tariff situation is dynamic," the statement continued, "and while we continue to evaluate the potential impact of tariff actions, we will not change the price of any vehicle currently in inventory through June 2."

Ford also offers price protection on consumer retail orders, so whatever price vehicles are when retail customers factory order a model, they are guaranteed that price, though they can take advantage of deals that may come up until delivery too.

Ford Vice Chair John Lawler on Wednesday at the Bank of America Securities Auto Summit emphasized that Ford is "positioned really well" with respect to the tariff situation because of its strengths in U.S. manufacturing and its balance sheet.

Automotive News first reported on the memo from Frick.

Eddie Stivers — Ford national dealer council chairman and president of E.M. Stivers Inc., which has five Ford dealerships in states like Alabama, Georgia, Arizona and Iowa — was one of the dealers who saw the memo. He said it means that the vast majority of pricing for models is protected into the summer.

Since the employee discount rates were announced, vehicles have been selling "at a clip," he said, with his days of supply falling from around 120 days to closer to 100 days.

"We're having a great April," he said, noting even usual Tax Day slump seems to have been skipped. "We haven’t had that mid-April pause this year. We don’t know how much is pull-ahead until we get there, but we have not seen a dramatic drop in consumer sentiment. We’re very bullish on May and June."

Rhett Ricart, CEO of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus, Ohio, that has a Ford store, said the discount program offers fair margins to retailers. He's already paid for the vehicles on his lot, so Ford can't change the price on those, he added.

"But it looks like on June 2," he said, referring to the end of the "From America, For America" campaign, "prices will start going up."

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