Video: American-Made Index: Toledo Jeep

And what it means to top the AMI is that not only is this car assembled in America but most of the parts and content that make up this vehicle, also come from America. In fact, over 90% of the vehicle's parts come from within 1,500 miles of this very spot in Toledo, Ohio. Now, Toledo is known for a lot of things, the home of Tony Packo's and the Great Lakes Maritime Museum. But as the locals will all tell you, first and foremost, Toledo is the home of Jeep. This is Jeep country. So we came to Toledo to talk to the people to see what impact having Jeep here for over 75 years has had on their community and their lives. Toledo Jeep, it's never just Jeep, it's Toledo Jeep. And everybody knows somebody, you know, throughout the community, either directly here on the line or at another supplier plant, somebody you know works for and builds a Jeep, somehow, some way. A tremendous amount of pride, and it goes back generations. Great, great, great, great grandparents started building bicycles here back in 1904 and then building Jeeps in 1941, 76 years. Well, this is the home of the Jeep. You know, we've been building them for over 75, and actually over 75 years. But it's just local ties to the community. It wasn't always guaranteed that they were gonna keep making these things in Toledo. It's been kind of a fight for the Toledoans to actually keep Jeep in Toledo. And it hasn't always been easy. Well, the biggest impact that it had on, is so many people, not just the Jeep Plant. All these supplier parts around here I mean, their families, their kids We've built other stuff. But what we build in this community, is we've built the Jeep Wrangler. That's the base unit, that's the heart, the soul, the integrity of the model, that's us. So April 30th, 2009, then owned by Serverless Chrysler, goes into bankruptcy, not sure if it's going to come out. When the plant shut down, it literally shut the... they shut the line down and workers got up and walked out. It hit the plant first, and within days, restaurants were laying off waitresses and stores were laying off employees. And it wasn't the credit crisis that shut down the rest of the economy, in Toledo, it was Jeep. So Toledoans know what happens if Jeep gets shipped off elsewhere, and specifically if Wrangler leaves Toledo. They're not gonna let that happen. And for them, buying American products and American-made products is of paramount importance. It doesn't just keep food on the table, it really helps them live the lives that they have. That's why the Wranglers place, atop of the American Made Index this year, is so important. Why is it so important to buy American car? Because this is our home here in the United States. If we keep on buying overseas stuff then we ain't gonna have no living here in the United States no more. So it's very important, buy American. You could call it a love affair, but it's well beyond that. We are linked in our DNA. You can never... you can get divorced in a marriage, you're never gonna divorce Toledo from the Toledo Jeep Wrangler. We are married at our souls, we are DNA bound, and we'll fight like hell to make sure nobody ever tries to break that bond.