Do you know which cars are the most?
americancars.com just released its 2024 American Made Index to answer
that very question.
And this morning we are joined by Aaron Bragman from
cars.com.
He's Detroit Bureau Chief.
Aaron, good morning to you.
Thanks for being on the program, Sir.
Good morning.
Thanks for having me here.
All right, So what is the American Made Index and
what is its purpose?
Well, shoppers have told us up to 60% of shoppers
that it really does matter to them that the vehicle
they buy has a good impact on the American economy.
And So what we do every year since 2006 is
do an analysis of the vehicles that are on sale
in the United States over 400 this year to see
which of them are really the most American of the
American built ones.
And there's a hundred of them that made the list
this year.
All right, let's run through which vehicles topped this year's
American Made Index.
Well, up top this year again for the third year
in a row, is the Tesla Model Y electric SUV.
But unlike last year where Tesla took the top four
spots, we've seen some mixing up of the top ten
list this year.
Second place goes to the Honda Passport built in Alabama.
3rd place goes to the Volkswagen ID 4.
It's also another electric crossover SUV.
Tesla again comes in at 4th.
And there's Tesla's on the list as well.
But there's as many Hondas on the list in the
top ten as there are Tesla's this year.
OK, you're going to have to break this down for
us.
I see a German brand.
I see a Japanese brand.
How are these American made?
That confuses some people a little bit to see foreign
name plates on this list.
But we have to remember that foreign automakers have been
making cars in the United States for decades now.
There are a number of plants all throughout the country.
So it doesn't necessarily mean that that badge on the
hood is really indicative of where that car is made
or where the economic benefit goes to the things like
the Jeep Gladiator is, you know, one of the top
we call an American brand.
I guess we still have Tesla there.
Tesla's very much in America brand, but when we think
of the Detroit Three, that's the first one that comes
to play is number 8 in the Jeep Gladiator.
That's wild.
So even the big three, the closest they get to
the top of the list is the slot #8 Yeah,
that's true.
Well, it, it really depends on on how the content
of these vehicles is is measured.
So we look at things not just where the vehicle
is made in terms of final assembly, but we also
look at things like where do the parts come from?
Where do the engines and transmissions come from?
How does it all fit together?
What does the impact of that plant's workforce have on
the general community as well?
So there's a number of different factors that go into
calculating this list.
And there's a number of of foreign nameplates that do
make that list.
That's really interesting.
Now one of my vivid memories from childhood growing up,
Aaron is passing by American like Ford plants with my
dad and him explaining to me that if you have
a foreign car, do not park on that lot because
the union had stuck in my mind.
Given this list is, is that logic, faulty logic?
Well, it to some extent, I mean union made vehicles
are very important, especially for for union members as well.
So I mean, there is that idea that you have
to have that kind of attention for it.
But again, there are a number of foreign made nameplates,
foreign made vehicles like that.
Honda Passport has very high domestic content in terms of
its engines, transmissions.
And we've seen some things like the Jeep Gladiator came
up in the list because it stopped importing diesel engines
for that vehicle for this model year.
Any other surprises that made the list in your mind?
Well, I think the bigger surprise is what fell out
of the top ten, which is like the Tesla Model
three.
It was very high last year, and this year it's
popped down to #21 again, that's indicative of foreign parts
content.
They had a redesign and the foreign parts content went
up by 15%.
Ten actually.
Pretty fascinating stuff.
Aaron bragmanwith-cars.com.
Where can folks check out the, the the entire index
if they're really curious and want to really drill down
into this list?
Well, that whole list is available at cars.com/AMI and you
can check to see if the car you like is
on that list.
OK, Aaron, thank you for your time.
Stay cool up there in Ann Arbor, MI Appreciate it.