No Full-Frame SUV Landed on the 20 Most ‘American Made’ Vehicle List for 2024
The full-frame SUV is an American tradition. And for good reason. What says “USA” louder than a luxuriously spacious wagon body on an off-road-ready pickup truck frame. You might already know that Japanese crossovers are taking a bite out of full-frame SUV sales. But you might not know that many overseas automakers have factories in the U.S. As a result, many of those “Japanese” crossovers are more American made than big SUVs from Detroit brands–according to the Cars.com yearly index. Here are the top 20 models:
Rank | Model | Assembly Location |
---|---|---|
1 | Tesla Model Y | Austin, TX & Fremont, CA |
2 | Honda Passport | Lincoln, AL |
3 | Volkswagen ID.4 | Chattanooga, TN |
4 | Tesla Model S | Fremont, CA |
5 | Honda Odyssey | Lincoln, AL |
6 | Honda Ridgeline | Lincoln, AL |
7 | Toyota Camry | Georgetown, KY |
8 | Jeep Gladiator | Toledo, OH |
9 | Tesla Model X | Fremont, CA |
10 | Lexus TX | Princeton, IN |
11 | Toyota Highlander | Princeton, IN |
12 | Acura RDX | East Liberty, OH |
13 | Honda Accord | Marysville, OH |
14 | Honda Pilot | Lincoln, AL |
15 | Acura MDX | East Liberty, OH |
16 | Toyota Grand Highlander | Princeton, IN |
17 | Acura Integra | Marysville, OH |
18 | Acura TLX | Marysville, OH |
19 | Ram 1500 Classic | Warren, MI |
20 | Toyota Tundra | San Antonio, TX |
Hold up, how do these analysts even rank the most “American made” models? They base the scores on five factors, four of which automakers actually must include on the window sticker. These first four are location of final assembly, engine’s country of origin, transmission’s country of origin, and percentage of overall components that come from the U.S. or Canada. Why either U.S. or Canada? Because that’s all the law requires automakers divulge.
The final factor is the number of manufacturing employees in the U.S., as compared to the company’s total size. The Cars.com index essentially traces how much of your vehicle purchase dollars go to factory workers in the U.S. or Canada. But not every expert agrees with it.
The analysts at American University’s Kogod School of Business maintain their own rankings. They ding companies for being headquartered overseas, reasoning that a bit of your purchase dollars will go abroad for research and development, marketing, and executive salaries. Obviously, Detroit automakers do a bit better in this ranking.
The truth is that the industry is complex. And keeping your hard earned dollars in the U.S. is not as simple as choosing a familiar Detroit brand. For example, Jeep is always ranked as the “most patriotic” brand and it builds the iconic Wrangler in Ohio. But many of its engines come from Mexico or Italy and it is part of Stellantis, headquartered in Amsterdam.
So what are the “most American” full-frame SUVs, according to Cars.com? The Toyota Sequoia, which is based on the Tundra truck and built in Texas earns #25. The Nissan Pathfinder, based on the midsize Frontier, gets #27. The Jeep Wrangler comes in at #30. The hybrid Wrangler 4xe lands down at #57.
The highest ranked full-size full-frame SUVs on the list are GM’s lineup. The Chevrolet Suburban, Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe, and GMC Yukon sweep spots #39, #40, #41, and #42. The Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 pickup trucks are built in the U.S., as well as Mexico and Canada, so they fall at #89 and #90.
The Jeep Wagoneer is hot on GM’s heels with spot #44. Unsurprisingly, it is right behind the Ram 1500 (#43) which it shares a chassis with. What’s intriguing is that the Grand Cherokee, which is made in a completely different factory on a different chassis, comes in at #45. Its cousin, the Dodge Durango, earns #47. Like the Wrangler 4xe, the Grand Cherokee’s 4xe plug-in hybrid version lags a bit at #63.
The Blue Oval full-frame SUVs are a bit lower on the list. The Ford F-150 lands at #58 and the Explorer (technically a unibody-based crossover) is close behind, at #60. The full-frame Bronco gets #73. Its unibody crossover brother, the Bronco Sport, is made in Mexico and didn’t earn a spot on the list. Like Jeep’s hybrids, the F-150’s hybrid powertrain lands the PowerBoost version of America’s favorite truck at #75. The full-frame Expedition and Expedition Max (both built on the F-150 chassis) don’t make the list until spot #78. The more luxurious version, the Lincoln Navigator and Navigator L get spot #81.
Note that none of these are especially bad scores. Cars.com considered 400 models, with only 100 being “American made” enough for this ranking. So even spot #100 means that model is more “American made” than 75% of the vehicles available for sale in the U.S.