The 3 Most American-Made Cars of 2016

Globalization has made buying domestically manufactured products a lot harder than it used to be. When you can buy an American flag that was made in China, can you really trust those “Made in America” labels? In the automotive industry, the global supply chain makes identifying the American content of vehicles even more difficult.

That’s why the Kogod School of Business at American Universty created the Made in America Auto Index: to provide consumers with a more accurate picture of the production process for new vehicles.

This year’s version of the index was recently released, with the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia tying for first place as the most American-made 2016 car models.

Adjusting the American Automobile Labeling Act

The index evaluates and ranks 338 car models based on country of origin and the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA). This act requires automakers to affix a label documenting the percentage of American content in each vehicle sold in the US.

However, the index’s creators modified the AALA data to cover seven key factors from publicly available sources:

Profit Margin
Labor
Research and Development
Inventory, Capital and other expenses
Engine
Transmission
Body, Chassis and Electrical Components

“A vehicle’s domestic manufacturing composition plays a key role in determining its overall impact on the American economy,” said Frank DuBois, a professor at Kogod and developer of the index.

The three most American-made cars of 2016. From left to right: Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia. (Images courtesy of General Motors.)

DuBois argues that despite the fact that the AALA was designed to help consumers buy American, the data it provides is insufficient. Specifically, he noted the following sources of inaccuracy:

Canadian and US content and not disaggregated
Automakers can “round up” individual parts content from 70 percent to 100 percent when calculating domestic content
Cars with minimal US content may be allowed to use labels from cars with higher US content if both vehicles are part of the same carline

Majority of Vehicles Sold in America were Made in America

According to the index, of the 17.5 million vehicles sold in the US in 2015, approximately 65 percent were made in America.

“The Auto Index shows that vehicles produced by automakers headquartered in the U.S. rate higher overall, mainly because profit derived from their sale is more likely to return or remain in the United States and a majority of American companies’ R&D activities are located in the U.S.,” said DuBois. “However, there are some surprises this year; the Honda Accord ranked 19th last year, moved up to the fifth place with 81 percent domestic content.”

You can see the complete 2016 Kogod Made in America Auto Index here, and compare it to the 2015, 2014 and 2013 indexes here.