Most American-Made Vehicle?  The Tesla Model Y

Tesla, Honda, VW, Toyota, Jeep, and Lexus all make the Top 10 in Cars.com's 19th annual Most American-Made Vehicle Index. Tesla, the only domestic automaker to do so. 

The Tesla Model Y retains its top spot for the third year in a row - but there's a shakeup for No. 2 and No. 3 with the Model X dropping to No. 9 and the Model 3 landing at No. 21.  Cars.com cites changes in workforce and domestic parts content, respectively, for the drop in ranking. In their place, the Alabama-built Honda Passport ranks No. 2 and Tennessee-built Volkswagen ID.4 ranks No. 3.

“Over the last year, domestic manufacturing was thrust into the spotlight by the recent United Auto Workers organizing efforts and continues to be a hot topic with the impending presidential election,” said Patrick Masterson, lead researcher for Cars.com’s American-Made Index. “Pundits champion homegrown corporations as the key to investments in local and state economies. However, when it comes to the global automotive industry, the badge on the hood doesn’t always reveal a vehicle’s economic contributions. In fact, 66% of vehicles on Cars.com’s 2024 American-Made Index come from foreign automakers that support communities in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.” 

Notably, the first-ever 2024 Lexus TX makes its debut on the list at No. 10. 

Cars.com says U.S.-based production facilities are up 144% since 2020.   

Over half of the vehicles on this year’s list were assembled in the South, outpacing the 45% assembled in the Midwest.  Alabama leads the way - with 15 vehicles produced in Huntsville, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery and Vance. Thousands of Alabamians are employed by Japanese-based Mazda, Toyota and Honda, South Korean automaker Hyundai and luxury German automaker Mercedes-Benz. 

Cars.com says that in small towns like Lincoln and Vance, with populations of about 7,500 and 2,000, respectively, these foreign automakers have become vital to the local economy, creating jobs and driving economic growth through their investments in these communities. Cars.com says also of note:  none of these automakers use UAW-represented labor — only 39% of vehicles on this year’s index were built by the union.  Cars.com says this number could change as factory workers weigh joining the UAW.

As for consumer demand for American-made vehicles,  more than half of in-market car shoppers (56%) are willing to pay more for a vehicle if it creates more U.S. jobs — of those, 58% say they are willing to pay at least an extra 10%.  But 60% of Americans say that products need to be built in the U.S. by a company headquartered here to substantially contribute to the American economy.

However, Cars.com says the success of Alabama’s auto industry demonstrates that foreign investments are also playing a crucial role in supporting and growing local economies.

To see the entire list of the Top 100 American-Made vehicles, click here:

Photo Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.