Due to tariffs on Chinese goods imposed by the Trump administration JL Audio, Directed, Cerwin Vega and Diamond Audio will raise prices on their 12-volt product lines.
Additionally, other brands are expected to announce price increases by the SEMA Show, which kicks off October 30.
Elettromedia, however, said it will not raise prices this year, even though some of its amplifiers are affected by the tariffs.
JL Audio
In a recent letter to dealers, JL Audio said it will raise prices on products across the board as of November 1st by 6 percent. Dealer costs will increase but also the selling prices will increase, so margins will remain virtually unchanged.
In a second phase, JL Audio may again increase prices after January 31st, as tariffs on goods such as amplifiers are expected to increase in January from the current 10 percent to 25 percent (see story here for tariff details).
In a letter to dealers, JL Audio President Andy Oxenhorn said, “We are working diligently on various strategies to minimize the impact of these tariffs, but there is a good chance that they will further increase our prices after January 1st.”
He continued, “For now, we are taking a moderate step and implementing price increases that average 6% across the entire product line. Some products will be impacted a little less, and others a little more. We are also increasing the selling price to keep dealer margins the same, but there may be slight variations in certain products as a result of adjusting to common price points…”
A new price guide will be issued by JL Audio by the middle of this month, giving dealers a couple of weeks to adjust their prices.
Directed
Directed announced a 3 percent price increase on remote start and security products but its SmartStart and DS4 systems and accessories are exempt from the increase, effective October 1st.
A Directed spokesman said, “Directed has been impacted by the recent rounds of tariffs and has also seen increases in other product costs – raw materials, logistics, labor and cost of capital. We are committed to mitigating these increases by improving our internal processes…. We will continue to monitor tariff effects and adjust our business accordingly.”
CVDA (Cerwin Vega Mobile/Diamond Audio)
CVDA Holdings, which sells Cerwin Vega Mobile and Diamond Audio, is raising prices on amplifiers and some accessories effective October 1st by under 10 percent, according to the company. By one account, the increase is about 5 percent. The company is increasing both MAP pricing and dealer costs so dealer margins remain consistent with current prices, it said.
Elettromedia
Elettromedia’s Rob Wempe said, “We were hoping we wouldn’t be involved in the tariffs because we buy our product from Italy. We were hoping it wouldn’t affect us, but it does. Amplifiers, after September 24 have a 10 percent tariff. We feel this is exactly the wrong time to add a 10 percent tariff so we are going to absorb the tariff until the end of the year and see what happens.”
While Elettromedia is holding prices steady, the following products could be subject to price increases in the future:
o D-Power
o HCP
o ML Power
o HCP Marine
o HMP Power Sports
o SR
o Voce
The following Elettromedia products are made in Italy, so remain unaffected by Chinese tariffs:
o Prima
o All Audison Bit products
o H8 DSP
o AV Bit In
o Thesis
All the more reason to no longer buy amplifiers from manufacturers that produce their amps in china.. Korean, Brazilian, and hopefully-eventually US built amplifiers are better options.
AAMP has also increased prices recently.