(MENAFN) Escalating automotive tariffs, relentless price increases, and a contracting employment landscape are compelling U.S. consumers to drastically alter their vehicle purchasing behavior, media disclosed Sunday.

"Car buyers are downsizing, buying used vehicles, taking on longer car loans and holding out for deals," the report stated.

Simultaneously, America's electric vehicle sector has plunged into steep decline—a crisis intensified by September's elimination of the federal $7,500 EV tax incentive, which analysts say has eliminated hundreds of thousands of prospective transactions and deepened industry distress, the publication noted.

Washington imposed a 25-percent levy on imported automobiles this past April, followed by an additional 25-percent charge on automotive components in May, driving up costs for both foreign-manufactured and American-assembled vehicles alike.

Overall U.S. consumer expenditure weakened progressively between early October and mid-November, the Federal Reserve revealed in its Beige Book economic assessment published Wednesday.

This spending contraction mirrors widespread hesitation among Americans, substantial numbers of whom harbor pessimistic outlooks regarding employment opportunities and harbor deep anxiety about inflationary pressures, forcing them to slash discretionary spending, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index data released in November.

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