Honda and Toyota may be Japanese car manufacturers but some of their cars are more American than their names suggest.
The Honda Accord ranked fifth and the Toyota Camry and Sienna ranked eighth in the 2016 Kogod Made in America Auto Index. The American University Kogod School of Business in Washington, D.C. created the index, which ranked 338 cars based on their impact to the American economy. This is the fourth year for the index.
The index looks at seven criteria: profit margin; labor; research and development; inventory, capital and other expenses; engine; transmission; and body, chassis and electrical components. Each category is scored based on whether the activity was done in the United States or, in the case of the engine and transmission, if the component was made in the United States. The top 10 scores are filled by 41 cars, as many cars had the same scores.
Besides the Accord, the other Hondas that made it into the top 10 rankings include the Honda Pilot, Odyssey, CR-V (US) and Civic (US); and the Acura RDX AWD and 2WD.
The Camry and Sienna weren’t the only Toyota products ranked in the top 10. The Toyota Highlander and Avalon also had top-10 scores.
For the fourth year in a row, General Motors dominated the top 10, with 20 models having top scores. GM’s full-size SUV siblings, the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, tied for number one.
GM’s other vehicles on the list include the Buick Verano; Chevrolet Corvette, Equinox, Impala, Malibu, Malibu LTD, Tahoe, Suburban, Cruze LTD, Colorado and Camaro; GMC Yukon, Yukon EXT and Canyon; and Cadillac Escalade, ATS, CT6 and CTS.
Ford’s vehicles in the top 10 include the Ford F150, which had the second highest score, Explorer, Mustang and Expedition and the Lincoln MKS and Navigator. Fiat Chrysler’s vehicles in the top 10 include the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and Cherokee and the Chrysler 200.
The Kogod index, which Associate Professor Frank DuBois created, builds on the American Automotive Labeling Act (AALA) data, which indicates the amount of parts from the U.S. and Canada used, the country the vehicle was assembled in and the country where the engine and transmission were made.
“The index shows that vehicles produced by automakers headquartered in the U.S. rated higher overall in the index,” the Kogod web page indicated about the study. “This is for two reasons: (1) profit derived from their sale was more likely to return or remain in the United States; and (2) a majority of a U.S. company’s R&D activities are located in the U.S.”
Top 10 Most American Cars
| Rank | Make | Model | Total Domestic Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buick | Enclave | 90 |
| 1 | Chevrolet | Traverse | 90 |
| 1 | GMC | Acadia | 90 |
| 2 | Ford | F150 | 85 |
| 3 | Chevrolet | Corvette | 83 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Equinox | 82.5 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Impala | 82.5 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Malibu E2 Gen | 82.5 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Malibu LTD | 82.5 |
| 4 | GMC | Yukon, Yukon EXT | 82.5 |
| 4 | Cadillac | Escalade | 82.5 |
| 4 | Buick | LaCrosse | 82.5 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | Tahoe, Suburban | 82.5 |
| 5 | Honda | Accord | 81 |
| 6 | Jeep | Wrangler Unlimited | 80.5 |
| 6 | Ford | Taurus | 80.5 |
| 6 | Buick | Verano | 80.5 |
| 6 | GMC | Canyon | 80.5 |
| 6 | Chevrolet | Cruze LTD | 80.5 |
| 6 | Chevrolet | Colorado | 80.5 |
| 7 | Ford | Explorer | 80 |
| 7 | Ford | Mustang | 80 |
| 7 | Cadillac | ATS | 80 |
| 7 | Cadillac | CT6 | 80 |
| 7 | Cadillac | CTS | 80 |
| 7 | Chevrolet | Camaro | 80 |
| 8 | Jeep | Cherokee | 78.5 |
| 8 | Honda | Pilot | 78.5 |
| 8 | Honda | Odyssey | 78.5 |
| 8 | Toyota | Sienna | 78.5 |
| 8 | Toyota | Camry | 78.5 |
| 9 | Ford | Expedition | 77.5 |
| 10 | Chrysler | 200 | 76 |
| 10 | Lincoln | MKS | 76 |
| 10 | Lincoln | Navigator | 76 |
| 10 | Acura | RDX AWD | 76 |
| 10 | Honda | CR-V (US) | 76 |
| 10 | Honda | Civic (US) | 76 |
| 10 | Acura | RDX 2WD | 76 |
| 10 | Toyota | Highlander | 76 |
| 10 | Toyota | Avalon | 76 |
The full list of cars is available on the Kogod School of Business’ web site.
Check out this TFLcar on- and off-road review of the 2017 GMC Acadia:
