Grade A, 100% All-American Car
According to the federal government, a vehicle with a 75-percent or more domestic parts rating is classified as a domestic vehicle. The web-based resource site Cars.com has compiled the 'American Made Index' that lists the top ten vehicles made in the U.S. according to where their parts came from, where they were finally assembled, and even how many were sold in the U.S.
The ten vehicles and where they're assembled are:
- Ford F-Series - Dearborn, Mich.; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Norfolk, Va. (Except Ford F-650, F-750)
- Chevrolet Silverado - Fort Wayne, Ind.; Pontiac, Mich.
- Toyota Camry; Camry Solara - Georgetown, Ky. (Except hybrid Camry)
- Ford E-Series - Lorain, Ohio
- Chevrolet Cobalt - Lordstown, Ohio (pictured)
- Ford Explorer - Louisville, Ky.; St. Louis, Mo.
- Chevrolet Malibu/Malibu Maxx - Kansas City, Kan.
- Ford Escape - Kansas City, Mo.
- Toyota Sienna - Princeton, Ind.
- Chevrolet TrailBlazer - Moraine, Ohio (Except now discontinued TrailBlazer EXT)
[Source: Cars.com via PR Newswire]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Matthew King 7:05PM (7/02/2006)
This is a brilliant idea.
The Australian Government should do something similar. A new version of our biggest selling vehicle (GM Holden Commodore) is due out in August. Apparently local content will be about 50%, down from about 75%.
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Chad 7:08PM (7/02/2006)
They need to add that the Silverado is still made in Flint,MI. They make the majority of the Silverado 2500 Ext. Cabs.
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al 7:34PM (7/02/2006)
Hmm, i guess thats why the cobalt is so unreliable, which also explains why Lexus is so reliable, its not on the list haha
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Jay 8:09PM (7/02/2006)
So few car buyers care about American content that it's a national discrace. Heck, even the dealers are clueless. At a Ford dealer, one salesman didn't even know about the North American Content sticker that must be displayed in the window. Too many of us care only about price, and will turn our backs on our friends, family, and neighbors over a buck. Yet who's unconcerned about keeping their own job? Ask tech support people, who five years ago never imagined that their jobs could be taken by workers in India. We've allowed foreign auto makers to sell US the idea that WE make an inferior product!
Take a dollar and spend it in your home town. That dollar will come back to you sooner than you think, and in ways you didn't anticipate. Take another dollar and spend it on a foreign car. That money's gone, and you chipped away at your own job security in the process. I'm no flag-waving redneck, I'm just applying simple economics.
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Heather Bailey 10:01PM (3/24/2008)
I agree with your comment that we need to buy American to keep Americans working. I was referred to the autoblog website from my question on edmunds.com. My question is: What was the last production vehicle that was 100% American made, on American soil using American parts and assembled by Americans? I know it will be an old vehicle, I just want to know. Can you help me?
starlightmica 8:27PM (7/02/2006)
Don't forget the badge-engineered/platform-twinned vehicles such as: 2. GMC Sierra, 5. Pontiac G5 (okay, not out yet south of the border), 6. Mercury Mountaineer, 8. Mazda Tribute, 10. GMC Envoy.
Doesn't NAFTA result in Mexican and Canadian parts being labled as "American" in origin? I guess "American" now means "North American".
Gotta love the pastiche of nationalities behind cars these days: Dr. Z is now the salesman for the Chrysler group, the Mustang team was led by a Vietnamese-born American engineer, Bangle - an American, is the lead designer at BMW, GM hired a French woman to head their interior design department, Subarus are styled by the guy who used to do Alfa, the guy who styled the Buick Lucerne is now at Hyundai, a Japanese stylist did the Ferrari Enzo, Bentley is now mostly a line of cars underpinned by the VW Phaeton, and the original underpinnings of the Hummer H3 are from Isuzu's Thai pickup.
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Keith 8:40PM (7/02/2006)
Our RAM diesel is 'Hecho en Mexico', guess it did not make it on the list :p
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TriShield 9:09PM (7/02/2006)
They're referring to assembly and sourced parts content of vehicles in that article. Not necessarily whether the company is truly American, Japanese or what not.
For instance, there's no question the Toyotas on the list are products of Toyota and that the profits ultimately go back to Japan.
Every automaker produces their products globally, that doesn't make GM any less American or BMW any less German or Toyota any less Japanese.
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Alan 9:29PM (7/02/2006)
#6, the "profits go to Japan" argument is somewhat spurious. First of all, the large auto manufacturers all publicly-traded companies in which Americans can buy shares. Second, most profits are reinvested in the business rather than distributed to shareholders (Toyota and Honda are building plants here).
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anahit 10:05PM (7/02/2006)
There is essentially no such thing as a "truly American" or "truly Japanese" public company.
The profits do NOT necessarily go to America or Japan or whatever the public corporation's official domicile. The profits go to the shareholders. Shareholders can live anywhere on earth.
As an American, I can buy all the Toyota shares I want on the NYSE (ticker:TM). [This is an ADR from Toyota's Japan listing but has no effect on my point.] When Toyota makes profit/issues a dividend, I get the cash because I own part of Toyota.
With any public corporation, let alone a gargantuan manufacturing firm, pigeonholing a product as being from a particular country or saying profit goes to one country is disingenous at best and more accurately described as simply false.
Furthermore, as an economic matter, buying via patriotism hurts the buyer, his entire country (albeit minutely in marginal terms) and other countries (ditto). When many people use patriotism as a purchasing feature, the effects add up and can lead to substantial opportunity costs. In other words, everyone loses. Explaining this would take wayyy more space than any commentor is entitled and wayyy more time than I have.
For any allegedly patriotic type disputing this, please read some basic books on economics and international trade. It's amazingly well accepted, and moreso in a field where two experts generally can't agree on which direction the sun will rise.
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sp 10:24PM (7/02/2006)
lol, actually, with Toyota's profits, govt takes nice big slice of their tax share.
Toyota is also opening new plants in the USA and investing that money in the USA.
Compared to GM and Fords, losses, and closure of plants/jobs, moving away from US, makes you wonder who contributes more?
When did govt take some profit taxes from GM or Ford? When was the last time?
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PJ 10:49PM (7/02/2006)
That's a really important point, Alan. There's nothing to stop Americans from buying shares in Honda or Toyota--rather than, say, GM--and passing their successes into our own economy.
I love the point about Hau Thai-Tang, too. It makes me wonder how many Mustang fans that shove terms like "rice burner" and "Jap crap" in sport-compact fans' faces know that their muscle car was designed by a Vietnamese immigrant.
Not that I prefer one country of origin to another--it's the *car* that matters to me. It's only a matter of time before parts content and national presence become so similar between brands that the terms "domestic" and "import" will be meaningless.
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Sam 11:26PM (7/02/2006)
"8. lol, actually, with Toyota's profits, govt takes nice big slice of their tax share.
Toyota is also opening new plants in the USA and investing that money in the USA.
Compared to GM and Fords, losses, and closure of plants/jobs, moving away from US, makes you wonder who contributes more?
When did govt take some profit taxes from GM or Ford? When was the last time?
Posted at 10:24PM on Jul 2nd 2006 by sp 0 stars"
They're probably taxing them now-I haven't heard of any abatements lately and all businesses pay taxes somehow-no matter what the apparent fiscal health of the company.
As for the amount-well since GM and Ford are tremendously larger here in the states then Toyota is-has more employees and hundreds more plants here. I mean Toyota is tiny compared to the big two really-I'm betting they pay more to the Fed/State/Local government.
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Mal Fuller 11:34PM (7/02/2006)
If the cat has her kittens in the oven does that make them biscuits?
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Jason 11:47PM (7/02/2006)
I specifically chose my car because it was assembled in Japan and shipped here the way God intended! =)
In all sincerity, I picked the Mazda3 5-door because it felt like a better car in terms of performance, handling and assembly quality than the Civic or any other car in it's class. The 5-door body style was also a big plus. But I just really like the fact that my Japanese was built by Japanese people.
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Jeff Banks 12:12AM (7/03/2006)
But all the money for development of the toyota camry is still going back to Japan (engineers etc)
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Nate 12:50AM (7/03/2006)
I find it funny that toyota has a few cars on the list, and the Chrysler group (more american than toyota supposedly) has none...
and starlightmica certainly brings up some interesting points to think about.
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Rastus 12:55AM (7/03/2006)
What in the HELL is Anti-American about "Engineers"....Engineers who put forth the effort, who sweat the details, who design a BETTER car for manufacturability, durability, reliability...
...what in the HELL is so Anti-American about that???
If they are in Japan, so wHAT??
You have two issues going on here:
Either you can't stand the fact that you (an American) are being BEAT at your own game...
...or you are nothing more than a "Reverand Jessie Jackson" who tries (and sometimes succeeds) at his game of extortion...where "there aren't ENOUGH locals/minorities/etc. represented).
Either way, I have no problem with paying an Engineer for his labor and success...I don't care where he/she lives.
It's a global world out there....engineers in Japan or in India or Bangladesh...are "Engineers" nontheless. All of them are vying for your dollars via a better product.
Get used to it.
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iQuack 1:03AM (7/03/2006)
When I bought my '04 Honda Accord EX-L sedan, I didn't care where it came from because Honda's service record is so good. I'm a Californian originally from Ohio, so if the Accord had been an Ohio-built car, that would have been OK with me.
Turned out that my Accord came from Japan, but the sticker says it has 60% U.S./Canadian content, and 25% Japanese content (including the engine and transmission). So, 15% comes from other places--maybe China and/or Mexico--I don't know and don't care.
I was surprised that so much content was shipped from North America to Japan for final assembly.
In any case, I view the car as both global and excellent. If you want to know why there are so many Hondas around, just drive one and you'll see.
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Rastus 1:33AM (7/03/2006)
On the flip side iQuack...I have to this day an "American" Chevy.
Chevy let me down...and so help me, I will NEVER buy one of their Pieces of Sh%t again.
I was grabbing a couple of tacos today...and the joint was across the lot from a Chevy "DEALER" ...with its *72 HOUR SALE* today...and there was not a SINGLE stroller on the lot out there today. Sure, there may perhaps been a fool or two inside the building...but from my perspective it was a non-event.
72-hour sale?!?! So what!!! HAHAHA...better get 'em while they're HOT ...HAHAHA.
Too funny!! I pitty the salesmen who claim that to be their pathetic jobs!! haha
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