GM – Most Made in America Brand

Although nearly every new car sold by the Detroit Big Three manufacturers currently utilize components from suppliers outside the United States, the American Automotive Labeling Act considers a motor vehicle with 75% or more of its components sourced from the United States or Canada as a domestic product. In case you were wondering which of the Big Three manufacturer’s cars might be the most “domestic” in parts content, we need only look at the Made in America Index compiled by the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington D.C.

The Kogod study analyzes profit margins, labor, R&D, inventory, engine and transmission assembly, body, interior, chassis and electrical components to determine the nameplates with the most total domestic content. For 2015, 24 General Motors cars topped the Kogod Made in America Index. The Buick Enclave, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette, GMC Acadia/Denali and Chevrolet Traverse tied for the No. 1 spot, and another 18 General Motors’ models ranked within the Top 10. The top-ranking GM models scored a total domestic content of 87.5%, while the GM vehicles that tied for the sixth spot in the top 10 (Cadillac Escalade, Buick Verano, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, and Cruze) scored 80% domestic content.

Ford has seven models with 82.5% domestic content in the Kogod study (Ford Expedition, Explorer, F-Series pickup truck and Taurus earned the highest scores), and Lincoln has two at 80% (MKS and Navigator). Surprisingly, the 2015 Mustang is rated at only 77.5% domestic content. The highest ranking Chrysler models also dipped below 80% with the Jeep Cherokee, Cherokee Limited 4×4 scoring 79.5 %, the Wrangler at 79% and the Dodge Durango, Chrysler 200C, and Chrysler 200 topping out at 77.5%. As a bit of a surprise, three Toyotas and one Honda also made it into the Made in America Auto Index’s top 10 ranking with the Toyota Camry, Sienna XLE, Sienna and Honda Odyssey all scoring 78.5% domestic content.

Vehicles from General Motors definitely dominated the Made in America Index this year, but if you are curious about the percentage of domestic content in your own new car, regardless of brand, you can find out at www.american.edu/kogod/autoindex/2015.cfm.