Not all American cars are really American
Every year, cars.com researches which vehicles are the most American. They call it the ‘American Made Index’. Part of being an American vehicle is obviously being assembled at a plant in America. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the car or truck is American. Most of the parts could be sourced from anywhere else in the world, including the engine and transmission. Calculations are based upon where the car is assembled, how much of the parts are domestic, and American jobs at the manufacturing plants.
But one that is…is the MOST American Car
According to the Cars.com American-Made Index, last years most American Made vehicle was the Jeep Wrangler. For 2018 though the Jeep Cherokee takes the top of the list as the most American. The Jeep Cherokee’s final assembly point is in Belvidere, Illinois and has mostly American parts.
How can you check where a car is made?
Every new vehicle in the United States must have a Monroney sticker on the window until sold. On that Monroney will be information about where parts are sourced from, as well as the final assembly point. For example, see the area highlighted in red in the picture below.
If you aren’t near the car and shopping online for vehicles, links to the window sticker/Monroney can be found on the Fremont Motors website. Click on the vehicle you’d like to view then click on the part that says, ‘Window Sticker’ as shown in the yellow on the picture below (on fremontmotors.com).
What about used or pre-owned vehicles?
Used or pre-owned vehicles won’t typically have a Monroney window sticker (unless the first owner kept it in the vehicle and it has been saved in there). You won’t be able to tell where the parts came from but you’ll be able to tell if the vehicle’s final assembly point was in the USA by the VIN Number. Look on the side of the drivers’ door for a sticker with a 17 digit code. See the area highlighted in red below.
If the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) starts with the number 1, 4 or 5 then the vehicle’s final assembly point is in the United States of America. Some VIN stickers may also just say where the cars’ country of origin is. For example, “Made in Italy“.
Just some of the vehicles made in American plants;
Ford
- Bronco (coming soon!)
- C-MAX
- Escape
- Expedition
- Explorer
- F-150
- Focus
- Mustang
- Ranger (coming soon!)
- Super Duty
- Taurus
- Transit
Lincoln
Buick
Chevrolet
GMC
Dodge
Jeep
RAM
Toyota
Volkswagen
Where is your vehicles’ country of origin? Would you buy a vehicle made in America over one that isn’t?
This post was last modified on August 7, 2018 10:46 am
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