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If a man on the street was asked to guess what the most American car in the country was, I imagine there’s a strong chance they’d guess a Ford, a Chevrolet, a Dodge, or an automobile from some other member of the Detroit “Big 3.” To be clear, what we’re talking about here is the car with the highest proportion of its parts produced in the USA. I imagine popular guesses would be the Ford F-150, the Dodge Challenger or Charger, or the Chevy Silverado.
If the person has been paying attention to the Cars.com American-Made Index in recent years, then they would probably guess a Tesla, as Tesla has been the big winner of this competition in recent years. And it was indeed a Tesla again that was #1, the Tesla Model Y. In fact, this is the third year in a row that the Tesla Model Y was #1. That’s still a great, stunning achievement for the young US company. It’s impressive that Tesla “out-Americans” historical US auto legends Ford, Chevrolet, etc.
However, the news that really shocked me when I saw it this morning is that the Volkswagen ID.4 was the 3rd most American-made car in the country in 2024! It’s shocking since, well, Volkswagen isn’t even an American car company. Also, it’s surprising and uplifting to see that another electric car is at the top of the charts. We have to consider, too, is that part of the reason for this is the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate when Democrats controlled the two chambers of Congress, and then signed into law by President Joe Biden. The law strongly encourages automakers to use batteries produced in the US, and it also subsidizes battery mineral mining, battery cell production, and battery pack production in the country. Frankly, we should see more and more electric vehicles at the top of this index in years to come.
As it stood in 2024, there were four electric vehicles in the top 10. Aside from the #1 Tesla Model Y and #3 Volkswagen ID.4, there was the #4 Tesla Model S and #9 Tesla Model X. Clearly, Tesla is the most American car company on the planet. With the Tesla Model 3 Long Range just now qualifying for the full $7500 US EV tax credit, its batteries must be getting produced in the US now too, and I imagine it will be in the top 10 of the 2025 American-Made Index. The question is: where’s the Cybertruck?
Aside from Tesla, the only other auto brand with three models in the top 10 — or even more than one model in the top 10 — is Honda. It’s got 2nd, 5th, and 6th place.
I do wonder: which electric cars will be next to make the list? I mean, aside from the Model 3, which I assume is now a shoe-in for the top 10. We’ll see. Any ideas? Behind the Model 3 (currently at #21), the next highest ranked EV is the Ford F-150 Lightning at #56.
Overall, though, it’s exciting to see that despite having less than 10% of the US auto market in terms of sales, electric cars have 40% of the top 10 places in the American-Made Index. Thanks mostly to Tesla.
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