Cars.com's 2014 American-Made Index was released this week, ranking vehicles based on percentage of domestic parts, production location and popularity with domestic consumers. For the second year in a row, the Ford F-150 was in the No. 1 spot. This model is produced in Dearborn, Michigan, and Claycomo, Missouri; has the highest percentage of domestic parts; and is the nation's top-selling vehicle of any kind to boot.
Other cars that made the list were the Toyota Camry, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Avalon, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Honda Ridgeline, Honda Crosstour and Dodge SRT Viper, respectively. Though some of the winners are not necessarily produced by domestic companies, such as the Toyota and Honda vehicles, these models are made in the U.S. with a majority of domestic parts. The Toyota Camry is also the top-selling car in the nation. In previous years, crossovers from General Motors - the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia - had made the list, but domestic part-sourcing dropped below 75 percent in 2014 and therefore the models were no longer in the running.
Each year, Cars.com has found that fewer and fewer vehicles are eligible for the AMI, since their parts are being sourced from other countries. In 2011, 30 cars were eligible for the list, dropping to 20 in 2012, 14 in 2013 and finally only 10 eligible vehicles in 2014. The editor of Cars.com notes that the domestic sourcing of a vehicle's tires, engine or transmission is based on the American Automobile Labeling Act of 1992. In the current economy, it is getting more and more difficult to produce cars by domestically sourcing for parts and manufacturing in the U.S. A crucial aspect of the AMI is also consumer popularity, so if the car is produced domestically with domestic parts but is not popular in the market, it will not qualify.