Tesla Model Y, Model 3 are the most American-made vehicles, annual study finds
Tesla vehicles took four of the top six spots in the 2022 American-made Index, from Cars.com.
The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 took the top two spots, as all of those models for the U.S. are made in either California or Texas. The Kentucky-built Corsair, which is offered in a plug-in hybrid Corsair Grand Touring, was ranked third. The Honda Passport, made in Alabama, took fourth place. And then the California-built Model X and Model S took fifth and sixth.
2021 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrid
The annual index, a recurring study rounding up a range of annual data, involves looking at more than the federal American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) data—although that’s a start.
Under AALA, automakers are already required to report a range of information, including the percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts, by value, and the country of origin of the engine and transmissions, based on parts and labor. But the AALA calculation doesn’t completely represent the labor involved in final assembly.
Cars.com considers all of those elements, plus that labor, all under its own calculations. To the latter, it takes each automaker’s U.S. manufacturing workforce versus the number of cars it makes, combining body styles but separating powertrains.
The group mentions Jaguar and Land Rover, McLaren, Mazda, and Ferrari as companies that for the 2022 model year have zero American assembly, while Lotus, Polestar and Volvo (all of Geely) had less than 6% of its U.S. sales made in America.
2022 Polestar 3
There are some surprises, too. Alliance partners Infiniti, Mitsubishi, and Nissan, along with Honda Motor Co. (Honda and Acura) both sold a higher percent of made-in-America vehicles than GM.
It excludes fleet vehicles and those slated to be discontinued after the current model year, as well as manufacturers building fewer than 1,000 vehicles in a given model year. It also notes that since automakers aren’t required to submit AALA data for vehicles with gross weight ratings more than 8,500 pounds, those aren’t on the list. Yes, that means you, GMC Hummer EV, along with many heavy-duty pickups and full-size vans.
2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1
It’s not the only annual index that calculates such things, either. The Kogod Made In America Auto Index places a greater emphasis on the location of a company’s headquarters, the location of R&D, its labor footprint, and other elements. Tesla took the top position for the latest edition of that, too.