What are the most made-in-America cars? Here’s why the list is so surprising

Picture the most American car. Maybe you see a 1950s-era Chevy Bel Air. For more modern sensibilities, it might be a Ford F-150 or Mustang or a Jeep Wrangler.

But you’d be wrong, according to Cars.com ‘s annual ranking of the most American-made cars.

No cars made by the Big Three – General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (Chrysler) – even made the top 15. You’d have to look even further down the list for their most recognizable models.

However, if you pictured a Tesla, more specifically a Model Y, you’d be correct, and you probably keep up with the latest tech news. If you visualized a Honda Passport, which took the fifth spot after four Tesla models, well, you’re probably lying.

If you’re confused, don’t worry. What constitutes an American-made car is a lot more complicated than the logo on its badge and the number of American flags in its commercials. So here’s everything you need to know about 2023′s most American-made cars.

Tesla sweeps the top four spots

Tesla produces four models, and all four ranked at the top for American-made-ness. At the very top is Tesla’s Model Y SUV. While other Tesla plants around the world make Model Ys, if you buy one in the U.S., it was assembled at either the automaker’s original Fremont, Calif., factory or its new Gigafactory Texas headquarters in Austin.

The same goes for Tesla’s other models. Any Model 3, Model X and Model S – the next three in the ranking – bought stateside was assembled in Fremont, with some batteries coming from Tesla’s Nevada facility.

This is in line with Cars.com’s basic criteria. Final assembly location and U.S. manufacturing workforce are the most important factors. The ranking also considers percentage of U.S.- and Canadian-made parts (a quirk of available data from federally mandated reporting), as well as where a car’s engine and transmission (and/or battery when relevant) came from.

A few things can disqualify a car from making the ranking, primarily related to the availability of manufacturing information. The list only ranks commercially available light-weight vehicles. Some recognizable American nameplates like Rivian’s Illinois-made electric trucks and the GMC Hummer EV were left off the list because they exceed the 8,500-lb. light-duty weight limit.

Heavy vehicles like that don’t have to report their percentage of North American parts, so Cars.com can’t rank them alongside vehicles that do. Models that don’t meet minimum sales, inventory and production thresholds also don’t make the cut.

The top 10

• Foreign nameplates fill in top 10

These criteria are why Honda, headquartered in Tokyo, can put five vehicles in the top 10, including two from its luxury subsidiary Acura. Honda’s Passport SUV, Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup were ranked, fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively. Acura’s MDX and RDX SUVs ranked eighth and tenth. The Honda entries are all assembled in Lincoln, Ala., while Acura’s are assembled at plants in Ohio.

Since Cars.com began its American-made index in 2020, Honda has always placed many models toward the top. This is because, though Honda imports some vehicles, 73.1% of its U.S. light-duty sales are assembled domestically. That mark trails only Tesla with 100% and Ford with 77.5%.

The ranking’s big surprise is the Volkswagen ID.4 at No. 6. When the vehicle debuted in the U.S., for the 2021 model year, it was made in Germany, unsurprising for a German brand. However, ID.4s sold in the U.S., are now assembled in Chattanooga, Tenn. The electric SUV also got a boost from the ranking’s domestic parts criterion. The ID.4 is available in eight trims, some of which are up to 75% domestic-made parts, with all powertrains being sourced in the U.S.

This is reflective of a trend in EVs shifting toward American production. Fourteen EVs made the top 60. EVs in total made up 22% of the list, despite only representing 7% of new vehicle registrations in Q1 2023. This is likely due to new stipulations from 2022′s Inflation Reduction Act. The bill requires that a certain percentage of an EV battery’s components be sourced in the U.S., in order for the vehicle to be eligible for the EV tax credit.

• How does Texas fit in?

The ranking purports to determine “the vehicle that contributes most significantly to the U.S. economy.” But how does the list show Texas’ contribution?

Tesla’s models are the most obvious way Texas fits in. Giga Texas employed over 12,000 people at the end of 2022. It not only manufactures the Model Y, but serves as the brand’s hub for research and development for its forthcoming Cybertruck and Roadster.

The next-highest Texas-made vehicle is the Toyota Tundra, which is assembled at the automaker’s San Antonio plant. The pickup truck ranked 12th, and was the only non-Tesla, non-Honda or non-ID.4 in the top 15. Toyota used to manufacture the smaller Tacoma at the same plant, but has since moved operations to Mexico. It did begin producing the Sequoia SUV, now only available as a hybrid, in San Antonio in late 2022, though. That model ranked 18th. In total, the plant employs about 9,400 people.

GM assembles many of its full-size SUVs in Arlington, including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Suburban, Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon, all based on the same platform. However, those models feature a large percentage of foreign parts, consigning all four to the 70s in the ranking. The Escalade leads the pack at No. 70, followed by the Yukon at 71st, the Suburban at 78th and the Tahoe at 79th. Still, that doesn’t take away from the over 5,600 people the Arlington facility employs.

What about the cars Texans drive? The Ford F-150 was the most popular used car of 2022 by total sales share in both the D-FW metro area and Texas at large. No one is surprised. What is surprising is that the gas-powered variant ranks just 66th in American-made-ness. The all-electric Lightning variant comes in the highest at 38th while the hybrid ranks 61st. All are assembled in either Kansas City or Dearborn, Mich., but they are only partially made up of domestic parts.

Meanwhile, the Toyota Camry, the most common car in Texas, ranks 26th for its gas-powered variant and 53rd for the hybrid version.