Link
Only 10 vehicles qualified this year for the annual American-Made Index from Cars.com, and just three of them are from domestic brands.
The Ford F-150 pickup took the top spot for the second year in a row, while the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray came in seventh and the Detroit-built Dodge SRT Viper rounded out the list in tenth.
The other seven vehicles on the list -- which disqualifies cars with less than 75 percent of their parts made in the U.S. or Canada and factors in their sales impact on the U.S. economy -- were all U.S. built products from Toyota and Honda.
...
Here’s the full list:
Ford F-150
Toyota Camry
Honda Odyssey
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Avalon
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
Honda Ridgeline
Honda Crosstour
Dodge SRT Viper
Are 'American' cars going extinct?
- Thread starter strat81
- Start date
- Status
Not so much an American car but an American company such as Ford and GM since they are based here. It is a global economy with parts from everywhere.
I just posted this in a thread in the Oil Filter subforum, but it seems appropriate here as well...
Here's a direct link to the 2014 American University Made in America Auto Index:
http://www.american.edu/kogod/autoindex/2014.cfm
I think it's interesting, but biased heavily on the "weights" the author assigns to various factors. From the study:
I fully recognize that the AALA is a simplistic look, but this index isn't any different in my opinion. Most of the factors are binary...you either get all the "points" or you get none of the "points". Look at Engine for example. The Ram's engine is made in Mexico, so it gets 0 points. But all of the R&D and testing of that engine was likely done in the United States. Does it deserve 0 here? Same with Transmission...but it's only worth half of Engine. Body decrements the AALA by half and gives it 50% of the weight, so the AALA still plays a significant role in this index.
And their note about points-gaming for Chrysler:
Probably the biggest thing I disagree with is their Profit category, and their all-or-nothing points assignment for that (except for Chrysler). Chevrolet, for example, is certainly based in the United States, but its profit is distributed to shareholders around the world and invested in new projects around the world. Toyota, for example, is based in Japan (even though its NA subsidiary actually sells the cars here), but, like Chevrolet, its profit is distributed to shareholders around the world and invested in new projects around the world. The authors of the study give a lazy man's points assignment of all-or-nothing depending on ONE factor (where the HQ is) while ignoring everything else.
But how could they do otherwise? They don't sit on the board of any of these companies, they don't know how profits are distributed among their shareholders, subsidiaries, and divisions, and they can't track how much money "stays here" vs how much money "doesn't".
That's why I think it's "bench racing" at best to try to decide which vehicle or which brand has a bigger impact than another one. I'm sure one does. But exactly which one is mostly conjecture. I'm happy enough to know that something's manufactured in the United States with Americans' labor and using a good number of American-made parts. Aside from that, I'm not privvy to any of the company financials or dealings, so I can't use any of that to form a educated opinion.
Quote:
Profit Margin, 6%: 6 if U.S. company; 0 if foreign | Labor, 6%: 6 if assembled in U.S.; 0 if foreign | Research & Development, 6%: 6 if U.S. company; 3 if foreign and assembled in U.S.; 1 if foreign and imported | Inventory, Capital, & Other Expenses, 11%: 11 if assembled in U.S.; 0 if assembled outside of U.S. | Engine, 14%: 14 if U.S. produced; 0 if not | Transmission, 7%: 7 if U.S. produced; 0 if not | Body, Interior, Chassis, Electrical & Other, 50%: 2014 AALA% divided by 2.
Quote:
**At the time most AALA data was reported in late Fall 2013, Chrysler was 41% owned by the UAW pension fund. In January 2014, Fiat completed its takeover of Chrysler and now holds 100% of its shares. The new entity Fiat Chrysler Automotive (FCA) is to be headquartered in the Netherlands with a tax domicile in London, and shares listed in New York. As such, because of the hybrid nature of its organizational structure and its large production footprint in the U.S., we assigned a value of 3 for profit margin and R&D, rather than 6 or 0.
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
American cars aren't going extinct... it just seems that way now that most of what used to be considered "imports" are now built here.
Take a trip to Union County, Ohio. Honda nearly owns Union County now.
Originally Posted By: strat81
What does Honda have to do with where "American" cars are built?
According to the article:
"The results mark a steady decline in eligible vehicles, down from 14 last year, 20 in 2012 and 30 in 2011..."
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
My prediction is GM USA will become GM China in the near future.
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: strat81
What does Honda have to do with where "American" cars are built?
According to the article:
"The results mark a steady decline in eligible vehicles, down from 14 last year, 20 in 2012 and 30 in 2011..."
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
What is the definition of an American car? The nostalgic view of the Big 3?
Ford will survive. It's been making good cars for the last 20 years. At least in Europe. GM (and Opel) on the other hand should die. No one will grief over that POS in Europe. American car industry was at its high point in 50s and 60s. Your cars (,even normal cheaper ones) where miles ahead of Europe typical family transportation. It will probably end just like Britain car industry ended in 60s and 70s.
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
My prediction is GM USA will become GM China in the near future.
Originally Posted By: chrisri
It will probably end just like Britain car industry ended in 60s and 70s.
Thank NAFTA and the most favored nation status for making all this happen.
It's just great seeing multi-national corporations take our technology abroad, produce products cheaply, and then sell them to us as if they were produced with US labor.
Take pride that the US still builds the best car, it's called the Toyota Camry.
Originally Posted By: strat81
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: strat81
What does Honda have to do with where "American" cars are built?
According to the article:
"The results mark a steady decline in eligible vehicles, down from 14 last year, 20 in 2012 and 30 in 2011..."
My 2000 Ford Explorer has an engine made in Germany, a transmission made in France, a differential made in USA, Numerous other parts from Mexico, Canada, Japan.
Nothing really new...
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
Take pride that the US still builds the best car, it's called the Toyota Camry.
Lame list, if you want an all American car buy a 1932 Ford.
Its a global economy manufactures source suppliers and parts from all over the world.
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
Thank NAFTA and the most favored nation status for making all this happen.
- Status
