Tesla and Honda lead list of most American-made cars

Want to buy American?

Many Americans do. In fact, a recent Cars.com survey found that 58% of American consumers are willing to pay as much as 10% more for a vehicle if it creates domestic jobs.

But how do you know you're buying American? When it comes to cars, the answer is particularly complicated.

"You can't trust the brand on the hood or the legacy of an automaker's history," says Cars.com's Patrick Masterson, who led the website's 2024 American-Made Index. "This goes back to the complexity of the global supply chain," says Masterson. "Just the littlest tweak can affect where a vehicle lands on the list and that's why we keep doing it."

Now in it's 19th year, the American-Made Index takes more than 400 different mode-year 2024 vehicles available in the United States and judges them by five criteria: assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin, and U.S. manufacturing workforce.

Taking the top spot again this year is Tesla, once again the only American car company on the list, with its Model Y. While last year's list saw the EV company sweep the top four slots, this year it faces increased competition from Honda (the Passport is at number 2, while the Ridgeline is at number 5) as well as Volkswagen.

The latter company's electric ID.4 hits number 3 this year. Masterson says that reflects the ongoing trend of carmakers diversifying their powertrain lineup to include EVs.

"If you got one of the handful of model year 2021's and then the 2022's, those were all German made" says Masterson. "But since then they've retooled their Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant and now every ID.4 you buy is rolling off those plants."

Tesla's Model 3 dropped from the number 1 position all the way to 21, thanks to its long-range model and its low percentage of American parts. "That was a big surprise to me," says Masterson. On the other hand, Masterson points out that the Model 3's performance variant has 75% percent American parts, a level only equalled by the Honda Passport.

As for the least American-made cars, Masterson acknowledges that "that's a longer list."

More than half of the cars bought in the United States last year were imports, including some iconic American brands. This includes the Buick Envista (made in South Korea) and the redesigned Lincoln Nautilus (China), as well as the Ford Bronco Sport (Mexico) and the Ford Maverick (also Mexico).

"The big takeaway is that no vehicle is 100% American," says Masterson. "No vehicle is 100% top-to-bottom from the U.S."

Additional key findings from this year’s list include:

• 51% of vehicles on the list were assembled in the South, followed by 45% in the Midwest, and 4% in the West.
• While over half of Americans say they prefer auto brands that are built by union labor, none of the top-10 vehicles were produced at a union plant.
• Lexus TX made the top 10 with its first appearance on the AMI list, while the Toyota Camry and Jeep Gladiator both jumped 19 spots for a top-10 finish.
• All of Honda's luxury-brand Acura models are made in either Ohio or Tennessee.

The complete top-10 list:

1. Tesla Model Y
2. Honda Passport
3. Volkswagen ID.4
4. Tesla Model S
5. Honda Odyssey
6. Honda Ridgeline
7. Toyota Camry
8. Jeep Gladiator
9. Tesla Model X
10. Lexus TX