Honda Ridgeline More American Than F-150, Silverado, And Ram: Report

See our new article with the full details on the 2021 Ford F-150 here.

The automobile manufacturing sector is more global now than it’s ever been. That’s not to say there still isn’t national pride for hometown brands, be it in Germany, Japan, or the United States. There are certainly plenty of car buyers in America who prefer to buy American-made products, but what cars are truly American?

For years, Cars.com has compiled an annual list showing which vehicles are most American. Called the American-Made Index (AMI), it utilizes a complex methodology that includes the location of final assembly, parts content, origins of engines and transmissions, and the number of U.S. employees at an automaker compared to the number of vehicles it builds America. That last bit is actually different from previous reports which considered sales instead of vehicles produced. As such, Cars.com advises that the 2020 study shouldn’t be compared apples-to-apples with earlier reports.

Crunching The Numbers:

With that in mind, which vehicles are the most American for 2020? The Ford Ranger, which ironically wasn’t sold in the States in its current form for several years, tops the list. It’s worth noting that even this most American of vehicles still isn’t a 100-percent USA vehicle. American parts content for the Ranger is 70 percent, and of course, it’s built at Ford’s assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan.

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The report doesn’t go into similar detail on other vehicles, but it does list the Jeep Cherokee as number two, followed by Tesla in the third and fourth positions for the Model S and Model 3. This is the first year Tesla participated in the report, with all its vehicles built in Fremont, California.

Interestingly, Japanese-based Honda holds the next three positions with the Odyssey, Ridgeline, and Passport. All are built in Lincoln, Alabama, and with the metrics plugged in, Honda significantly exceeds Detroit-based automakers in several vehicle segments. The Chevrolet Corvette takes the eighth spot, with the Tesla Model X and Chevrolet Colorado rounding out the top ten.

Ridgeline In The News:

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The 2020 list includes 91 vehicles on its most-American list, but we suspect U.S. buyers – and specifically pickup buyers – are curious as to where Detroit's best-selling lineup of full-size trucks ranks. We already know the Honda Ridgeline landed in the top-ten, along with the Ranger and Colorado. But you need to go all the way to 44th position for the Ford F-150. The Ram 1500 was close behind in the 47th spot, and the Silverado was a distant third at number 77.