TESLA HAS THE MOST AMERICAN-MADE CAR, ACCORDING TO CARS.COM
Three of Tesla’s electric vehicles ranked in the top 10 of Cars.com’s American-Made Index.
Despite losing some ground to rival foreign automakers, Tesla held onto the lead in the latest edition of Cars.com’s American-Made Index.
Researchers at Cars.com said they evaluated hundreds of 2024 model-year vehicles to compile the rankings, considering several factors including the percentage of parts that were made in the U.S. and Canada, final assembly locations, and the country of origin for engines and transmissions.
The Austin, Texas-based automaker’s Model Y electric SUV took first place on the index; It’s the third year in a row that the Model Y, Tesla’s best-selling model, has led the ranking.
However, Tesla’s dominance diminished from 2023, when it took the top four spots, as the Model X SUV dropped to ninth and the Model 3 sedan sank to the 21st slot. The Model S luxury sedan is ranked in sixth.
The assessment ranked Honda Motor’s Passport SUV and Volskwagen’s ID.4 electric SUV in second and third place, respectively. The rest of the top 10 is comprised of other Honda vehicles, Toyota Motor’s Camry, Jeep’s Gladiator, and Lexus’s TX.
In other words, Tesla is the only U.S.-headquartered automaker in the top 10. General Motors first lands on the list in 23rd and 24th, with the Chevy Colorado and the GMC Canyon pickups. The Lincoln Corsair is Ford Motor’s first entry on the index at 29th, followed by the gas-powered Mustang in 31st.
“[W]hen it comes to the global automotive industry, the badge on the hood doesn’t always reveal a vehicle’s economic contributions,” Cars.com researcher Patrick Masterson said in a statement. “In fact, 66% of vehicles on Cars.com’s 2024 American-Made Index come from foreign automakers that support communities in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.”
That includes 15 vehicles made in Alabama by Japan’s Toyota, Mazda Motor, and Honda, plus South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz. Three of the top 10 vehicles — Honda’s Odyssey, Passport, and Ridgeline — are made in the state.
But Michigan, where GM, Ford, and Stellantis’s U.S. operations are based, is still the leader, with 16 vehicles on the index. Ford has 12 vehicles on the index overall, while GM “consistently has the most representation” on its index with 18 vehicles ranked, per Cars.com.
A Cars.com survey found that 56% of U.S. consumers were willing to pay more for a vehicle if it created more jobs stateside. More than half said they would be willing to pay 10% or more than their planned budget if it meant keeping domestic jobs.
The researchers also note that just 39% of the vehicles made on the index were assembled by workers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which has attempted to penetrate the southern U.S. Last month, Mercedes workers voted against joining the union. On the other hand, Volkswagen employees in April finally joined the UAW after years of failed attempts.
2024-06-18T16:25:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd