2024 Cars.com American-Made Index: What About the Least American Cars?
The first step on the road to determining Cars.com’s most American-made vehicles might be the most obvious one, but it’s also arguably the most significant: determining what actually gets built in the U.S. The AMI’s criteria for judgment include percentage of domestic parts content and country of origin both for engines and transmissions, but without a U.S. manufacturing workforce and some plant in which to conduct final assembly and roll it off the line, a car ain’t cutting the mustard no matter its componentry.
Related: 2024 Cars.com American-Made Index: Which Cars Are the Most American?
Some 401 nameplates were analyzed before we trimmed the list to the final 100; the remaining 301 vehicles are all equal in the eyes of the AMI. That’s why the AMI doesn’t provide a full list of least American vehicles. Once a car is disqualified, it’s beyond our purview (not to mention our time and effort) to investigate further. Still, half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2023 were imports, according to a Cars.com analysis — and what’s imported might surprise you.
Whether it’s the gas- or hybrid-equipped variant, your Ford Maverick is made in Mexico alongside the Bronco Sport; same goes for the Mustang Mach-E, which comes from a separate Mexican plant. GM’s luxury Cadillac division might be all-American, but its premium Buick brand one step down builds the Encore GX and Envista in South Korea. If you’re looking at a GMC Sierra 1500, you might find your truck is built either in Roanoke, Ind., or Silao, Mexico — but if you’re shopping for an ostensibly Chevrolet Silverado 1500, you might run across an example with final assembly in the U.S., Mexico or Oshawa, Ontario.
Honda-owned Acura is an example of the reverse, where its entire lineup is made in Ohio except the ZDX SUV, which comes out of a GM plant in Tennessee. Generally, though, foreign brands tend to diversify when it comes to manufacturing: Honda’s Alabama offerings are right at the top of the AMI, but at the other end of the index is the Civic, which comes from Indiana, Canada or Japan, depending on which variant you’re buying. BMW’s SUV lineup was once almost entirely made in Spartanburg, S.C., but in addition to the imported X1 and X2, a fraction of X3 models sold in the U.S. are made in South Africa. And while our research suggests finding a South Korean Genesis GV70 is well nigh impossible, the brand confirmed to us that a small population of the SUV supplements those built in Alabama.
Regardless of how manufacturers approached this model year, if you’re conscious of keeping your cash close by, it’s always worth looking beyond the badge on the hood to see who’s putting in the work to get you on the road.
Which Automaker Builds the Most U.S. Cars?
As far as raw count goes, GM tops the list for sheer number of nameplates with 16 vehicles making this year’s index; it’s followed by Toyota (15), Honda (13) and Ford (12). But in the sense of which automakers are most American by the percentage of their lineups’ location of final assembly, Tesla leads the way with its entirely U.S.-made roster. For more details on the latter, see the list below.
Share of U.S. Light-Duty Sales From Domestic Assembly, 2024 Model Year
- Tesla Inc. (Tesla): 100.0%
- Ford Motor Co. (Ford, Lincoln): 72.4%
- Stellantis NV (Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Ram): 66.8%
- Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Acura, Honda): 61.5%
- Toyota Motor Corp. (Lexus, Toyota): 53.6%
- Subaru Corp. (Subaru): 48.7%
- General Motors Co. (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC): 47.6%
- Mercedes-Benz AG (Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-EQ): 46.3%
- Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance (Infiniti, Mitsubishi, Nissan): 44.1%
- BMW AG (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce): 39.8%
- Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. (Genesis, Hyundai, Kia): 37.2%
- Volkswagen AG (Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Volkswagen): 23.8%
- Mazda Motor Corp. (Mazda): 18.6%
- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd. (Lotus, Polestar, Volvo): 9.2%
Source: Cars.com inventory analysis; light duty is defined by Federal Highway Administration Class I-II weight classifications.
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