bagwell

Domestic brands have the most American-made content in the U.S. according to a new index released by American University’s Kogod School of Business. Professor Frank DuBois, a global supply chain management expert, led the analysis, which considered not only where each vehicle’s parts were produced, but also the location of the manufacturer’s headquarters and other details, all in an effort to help consumers buy American.

“If you break down a single ‘American-made’ transmission, you’ll find many smaller parts, each stamped with its own country of origin. You may well find 80% of the parts inside that transmission didn’t come from the U.S.,” said Dubois.

To narrow down the options, DuBois’ team collected data from several sources, including recent American Automobile Labeling Act reports. The AALA was enacted in 1992 to inform consumers about the percentage of American content which comprises each car. AALA data specifies the percentage of U.S./Canadian parts content for each vehicle, including where the engine and transmissions were built.

DuBois’ index used these details as well as each vehicle’s overall AALA score, but also factored in: where the manufacturer’s headquarters is located; where most research and development occurs and where assembly occurs.

Some highly similar vehicle models that varied on the basis of trim lines or engine and transmission options were aggregated together for ease of comparison, resulting in 253 total vehicles indexed. As there were multiple tie scores, there are a total of 72 ranked positions.

Even the most homegrown manufacturers are now global corporations. In an article on Kogodnow.com, DuBois noted that of Ford’s 56 research centers, 45 are in the U.S.—which means 11 are elsewhere. On the other hand, four out of every 10 Ford Motor Co. workers are based in the US, while Toyota has just one out of 10.

Here are 13 vehicles that made the top-five most American-made 2013 models from DuBois’ index. Several vehicles ended up with tied scores, resulting in multiple winners for each position.

1. GMC Acadia (3-way tie)
1. Buick Enclave (3-way tie)
1. Chevrolet Traverse (3-way tie)
2. Dodge Avenger (2-way tie)
2. Ford F-series pickup (2-way tie)
3. Chrysler 200
4. Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Wrangler
5. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain (4-way tie)

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-13-m...214211686.html

mmarshall

Strange. The Avenger and Chrysler are practically the same car (except for the 200 convertible), yet the Avenger ties with the F-150 and not the 200?

bagwell

1. GMC Acadia (3-way tie) -- rented one in Canada, pretty nice vehicle
1. Buick Enclave (3-way tie) -- never driven
1. Chevrolet Traverse (3-way tie) -- never driven, but nice IMO
2. Dodge Avenger (2-way tie) -- don't like it, never driven
2. Ford F-series pickup (2-way tie) -- top seller
3. Chrysler 200 -- driven once in Maui for a week only because it the only thing available.
4. Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Wrangler -- Wrangler is awesome IMO
5. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain (4-way tie) -- I wish everyone could go to the Bowling Green Assembly Plant to see how much pride these guys have in assembling a Corvette!!

mmarshall

Well, the workers at Bowling Green simply have more time to be proud of what they do. The Corvette is a relatively low-production vehicle by today's standards. Given that the BG plant doesn't crank their cars out at the pace of cookie-cutter Accords and Camrys, the workers there usually aren't performing under a lot of pressure, or likely as much to suffer from the repetitive-motion injuries that are commonplace in some auto-plants from mass-production.

I8ABMR

I would love to see a cross comparison of reliability of these cars vs cars that are made totally in Japan. Im sure the typical relationship still exists even though the gap has closed significantly over the last 7-8 years

mmarshall

Some cars, like the Camry/Corolla and the Accord/Civic, are made both in the U.S. and Japan. Previous surveys have not shown any significant quality-gap between those two groups.

With Nissan/Infiniti, though, their Canton, MS plant, for years, could not produce vehicles anywhere near the quality of their Japanese-built cousins. Same with Mitsubishi's poorly-run Diamond-Star plant (formerly shared with Chrysler) at Normal, IL.

bagwell

wasn't the last gen Honda Civic engine built in Canada/USA = cracked engine blocks

mmarshall

As far as I know, Civic engines aren't just built in North America.

bagwell

I thought just the Si motor was built in Japan? but not sure.

mmarshall

You might be right. But, in general, most Toyota/Honda products don't seem to have many quality differences between American and Japanese plants. The well-known sludge/gel problems on the 3.0L Toyota/Lexus V6, for example, were due mostly to engineering/design (and owner neglect of oil-changes), not where the engines themselves were built.

UberNoob

+1

in fact, the RX plant in Oshawa, Ontario Canada is rated higher quality than the japanese lexus plants