Landscape has changed for “American” cars

With Chrysler now merged with Fiat, after having un-merged with Mercedes Benz and then going through bankruptcy, and General Motors now going through bankruptcy, the pieces of the puzzle have been in motion for the American car industry. Cars.com is out with its annual ranking of the “Most American” vehicles. This year, the winner will surprise you.

Cars.com says its annual American-Made Index which ranks the most-American vehicles based on percentage (by cost) of their parts that are made domestically, where they're built and how popular they are among US buyers. This year, the Toyota Camry shot to the top of the list, dethroning the five-time winner, the Ford F-150.

In addition to grabbing the No. 1 rank, Toyota sees its Sienna (No. 6), Tundra (No. 7) and Venza (No. 10) also make their way onto the list, lifting the Japanese automaker's count above all other manufacturers. This year, Detroit automakers claimed five of the 10 spots, a record low on Cars.com's index.

"This year was unique for our index, to say the least," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor in chief. "The difficult sales environment and changes in cars' domestic-parts content -- both important factors in our index's equation – played a huge role in how the rankings changed from last year," he noted

In keeping with American-Made Index methodology, Cars.com excluded any models scheduled to be discontinued without a clear successor. That carried stronger implications this year, as most Pontiac models - including the G6, a longtime index mainstay - became ineligible. Another GM mainstay, the Ohio-built Chevrolet Cobalt, saw its domestic-parts content rating drop significantly, ending its three-year run on the list.

General Motors still takes three slots, with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 pickups showing strong domestic-parts content ratings. The popular Chevrolet Malibu ranked third, thanks in part to its 80% domestic-parts content and steady sales.
The Alabama-built Honda Odyssey increased slightly in domestic-parts content, up to 80% this year, which played a large role in its elevation to the No. 4 spot. Another newcomer, the Ford Taurus, boasts an impressive 90% domestic-parts content, the highest of any vehicle on the list.

"In today's global economy, there's not an easy way to determine just how American a car is. Most cars built in the US, for example, are assembled using at least some parts that come from somewhere else. Cars.com's American-Made Index helps consumers identify the most-American vehicles based on production location, percentage of domestic-parts content, and American sales volume for each vehicle," Olsen said.