Cars.com 2009 American-Made Car Index: Detroit Automakers Have Only 5 of Top 10, Fewest Ever
Cars.com's American-Made Index highlights the cars that are built here, have the highest amount of domestic parts — with eligible models having parts-content ratings of 75% or higher — and are bought in the largest numbers by Americans. The Toyota Camry, once an American-Made Index presence, hasn't appeared on this list since 2007. Not only does it return for 2009, it's displaced Ford's F-150 as the only leader this list has had since we began compiling it in 2006. Three others joined the list, two of which — the Ford Taurus and Toyota Venza — have never been on the AMI before, and Detroit automakers claimed just five of the 10 spots. That's a record low for them.
MP: "Foreign" automakers captured half of the top ten spots for American-made cars in 2009:
#1. Toyota Camry (pictured above)
#4. Honda Odyssey
#6. Toyota Sienna
#7. Toyota Tundra
#10. Toyota Venza
11 Comments:
...why even bother *having* this index?
The Sienna is #6 and the Tundra #7.
Sean: Indexes are things we nerds do. I would argue the 75% floor needs to be price of parts, not just a count. You could also price density as cost per part divided by mass. Oh man that would be AWESOME.
But where do the profits go? Do they stay in the US or are they repatriated to Japan to pay executives and dividends there? This list is a bit misleading because it does not tell the whole story. It does however give people psychological cover when they opt to buy from foreign car companies.
I remember a gal who was so proud to have an American car - that turned out to have been built in Canada. Meanwhile, I had one of those foreign cars, a Nissan Pathfinder - built in Tennessee.
Today, I am all American. I have a Jeep Liberty. What could be more American than a Jeep? Of course, you have to discount that the engine is a Diesel made in Italy.
Endless fun.
But where do the profits go?
Where do the wages go?
As for profits, when was the last time Ford or GM turned a profit? More like where do my taxes go?
Time to wake up.
Buy stock in Toyota, Bill, and more of the profits will remain in the US, dufus!
Faulty index. I'd consider the Level Field's marks a bit more than this puff piece by the government backed Asian brands.
Anonymous said...
Buy stock in Toyota, Bill, and more of the profits will remain in the US, dufus!
7/04/2009 1:58 PM
Blood money, and it wont make it any sooner that they make cars with more than a 4banger affordable. Detroit fills this in with US made cars and some captive imports.
sethstorm,
Huh?
Huh?
To invest in Toyota would be receiving the equivalent of blood money. First, they wouldnt crank out anything Detroit-like in shape, power, and do so with a higher performance per dollar. Second, there is the issue of multiclass stock that insulate that Japanese company from making anything but Japanese-styled cars with minor modifications.
They don't know how to make anything but bland, small cars with underpowered engines and tons of shiny bling to attempt in hiding it. Then they call it environmentally friendly. Later on, they wonder when their own nation's blind cant tell when their cars pass right by.
Disclosure:
As for my car, it's an Oldsmobile made in Michigan. It was designed and built for the US citizen in mind, not some small-car nation. If you know enough about GM, you'll know what car I'm talking about.
I thank the foreign brands for attacking Detroit and putting it within reach. That's the only good thing that can be said of Toyota, Honda, Nissan et al.
sethstorm,
That was somewhere between wide miss and total fail.
Anon: Sure. You go and buy all the stock and, presto, it will now be an American company. Dufus.
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