Import tax would hurt Jaguar Land Rover, help rivals

As Washington mulls a tax on imports, an auto industry study suggests the policy would deliver the sharpest blow to Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover while giving a leg up to Tesla and Ford Motor.

In what it calls a "thought exercise," researcher Baum & Associates LLC estimates most automakers would need to raise vehicle prices by thousands of dollars - more than $17,000 per vehicle in the case of Jaguar Land Rover, which imports all its vehicles - to recoup higher costs incurred by a proposed border-adjusted tax.

Ford, with significant domestic manufacturing, would need to mull the smallest price hike among major automakers, at about $282 per vehicle, followed by General Motors at $995, according to the report.