It’s been a long time since American cars were built in the U.S. by American automakers, and foreign cars were all true imports. These days, your BMW SUV is probably built in South Carolina, and your Ram 1500 could have been built in Mexico. If you want the most American-made car that you can possibly buy, at least according to Cars.com’s 2024 American-made index, the one to buy is, yet again, the Tesla Model Y. For the third year in a row, actually.
To arrive at this conclusion, Cars.com evaluated more than 400 new vehicles based on where they are built, where their parts come from, where the engine and transmission are made, and how much of the workforce involved is located in the U.S. Last year, Tesla had a hold on all four of the top spots, but this year, things are a little different. The Model S comes in fourth, with the Model X dropping to ninth and the Model 3 coming in 21st.
Instead, Honda is now in second with the Passport, with the Volkswagen ID4 coming in third. Honda also placed both fifth and sixth with the Odyssey and Ridgeline, respectively. Meanwhile, Toyota gets into the top 10 with the seventh-place Camry and 10th-place Lexus TX, which feels appropriate considering we’re talking about the Lexus Texas here. Not building it in the U.S. would have been a step too far.
As for the Big Three, the Jeep Gladiator is ranked the highest, coming in eighth place, but you won’t see another one until you get to the Ram 1500 Classic in 19th. The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon are next, sitting in 23rd and 24th place respectively. Meanwhile, American classics such as the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette don’t even make the top 30.
For most buyers, it probably doesn’t matter that the C8 is less American-made than the Kia Sorento since, you know, if you want a Corvette, you want a Corvette. Still, it’s always interesting to see how these vehicle rankings work out every year.
To see the full list, head over to Cars.com and scroll the index to your heart’s content.
