American-Made Index: Which 2017 Models Are Built in America?

By Kelsey Mays
March 7, 2018
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CARS.COM — Cars.com’s American-Made Index analyzes a range of factors — now five in the revamped 2017 index — to determine just how American your next car or truck might be. But say you want to buy a model that’s built in the U.S. regardless of any AMI factors? Roughly 3 in 5 cars should meet that criterion. That’s according to a Cars.com analysis from January, which found that about 60 percent of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales in 2016 came from American-made cars and trucks. The remainder came from Mexico, Canada or abroad.

Related: The Cars.com 2017 American-Made Index

Which cars are they? Not to worry: We consulted every mainstream automaker to assemble a list of mass-market passenger vehicles for the 2017 model year that are currently built in the U.S. or have production split between the U.S. and other countries.

Here they are:

BMW

Daimler

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Ford

General Motors

Honda

Hyundai-Kia

Nissan

Subaru

Tesla

Toyota

Volkswagen Group

You might be able to find U.S.-built examples of five 2017 models not listed above — the Chrysler 200, Dodge Dart, Jeep Compass, Buick Verano and Ford Fusion — but none of them are currently produced here. FCA discontinued production for the 200 and Dart in late 2016, and it moved Compass production to Mexico in early 2017. Buick killed the U.S. Verano in 2016, while Ford shifted all Fusion production to Mexico.

Mercedes-Benz technically assembles three other models here: the Metris and Sprinter vans and the R-Class SUV. But the Metris and Sprinter come from overseas-built units that Mercedes reassembles in South Carolina with relatively few employees to avoid tariffs. And an AM General plant in Indiana builds the R-Class under contract, but it’s strictly for export to China. You can’t buy one, at least not without an expensive plane ticket.

Of note, four major automakers — Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Volvo — don’t build any passenger vehicles in the U.S., though Volvo plans to open a plant in South Carolina to build S60 sedans in 2018.

Still, domestic auto production is ebbing. Through the first four months of the year, automakers built 3.96 million cars and trucks in the U.S., according to Automotive News. Production through the first four months of 2016, by contrast, was 4.06 million.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
Assistant Managing Editor-News
Kelsey Mays

Former Assistant Managing Editor-News Kelsey Mays likes quality, reliability, safety and practicality. But he also likes a fair price.

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