On Monday, June 17^th, Jenni Newman and Patrick Masterson from Cars.com hosted a virtual meeting and Q&A session for about 80 MAMA members and presented their annual American-Made Index. The AMI compares how much of a vehicle sold in America is actually American. “The automotive industry’s economic impact is much broader than the general public realizes,” Jenni cited. From car factories and dealerships, to auto parts stores and gas stations, the industry creates over 5.4 million American jobs. Yet, unsurprisingly, the country an automotive brand calls home has little to do with where their vehicles are made or where their parts come from.

To help sort through all the confusion, Cars.com looked at over 400 light-duty models on sale for the 2024 model year. Each vehicle was then weighted on five key factors on a 100-point scale: transmission country of origin, engine country of origin, US manufacturing workforce, final assembly location, and percentage of US and Canadian parts. (Note that Cars.com uses a minimum sales threshold, so some lower volume manufactures/models did not qualify to be ranked).

The vehicles that topped this year’s American-Made Index are:

#1 Tesla Model Y (3^rd year in a row)

#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

With changes in the political landscape regarding gasoline and EV vehicles—and with many manufacturers soon to start building EV batteries and EV vehicles in the USA—the American-Made Index will continue to change. Cars.com is taking the lead to demystify the very complicated world of automotive manufacturing and to provide a comprehensive list for consumers who want to keep their purchase dollars in the community and better support the US economy.