Buying American is a noble cause, but it can be difficult to do these days. Armed with Cars.com’s American-Made Index, ABC News reporters David Muir and Sharyn Alfonsi joined the Stewart family from Hillsdale, N.J., as they shopped for a new car, looking for those that would create more jobs for American workers.
The Stewarts considered the Toyota Camry, which finished at No. 1 on the 2010 American-Made Index, and the Ford Escape, which landed at No. 3. ABC News headed to the Ford assembly plant in Kansas City, Mo., and the Toyota plant in Georgetown, KY., to find out which car created the most U.S. jobs. They considered three questions that are crucial to landing a car on our American-Made Index:
Is the car assembled here?
- Toyota: Yes, it takes more than 6,000 American workers to build the Camrys we buy.
- Ford: Yes, it takes 2,250 workers to build the Escape.
What’s the domestic parts content of each car?
- Toyota Camry: 80%
- Ford Escape: 65% How many cars were sold in a given year?
- Toyota Camry: The best-seller sold 328,000 last year.
- Ford Escape: Just less than 200,000 were sold in 2010.
Which car did the Stewarts buy? It wasn’t the Camry or the Escape. Instead, they purchased the redesigned Ford Explorer, which has an 85% domestic-parts content, according to ABC News. With that number, the Explorer might end up on Cars.com’s 2011 American-Made Index. Check back on June 27 to find out which cars top our latest index.
