Tesla and Honda lead list of most American-made cars



Want to buy American?

Many Americans do. In fact, a recent Cars.com survey found that 58% of American consumers are willing to pay as much as 10% more for a vehicle if it creates domestic jobs.

But how do you know you're buying American? When it comes to cars, the answer is particularly complicated.

"You can't trust the brand on the hood or the legacy of an automaker's history," says Cars.com's Patrick Masterson, who led the website's 2024 American-Made Index. "This goes back to the complexity of the global supply chain," says Masterson. "Just the littlest tweak can affect where a vehicle lands on the list and that's why we keep doing it."

Now in it's 19th year, the American-Made Index takes more than 400 different mode-year 2024 vehicles available in the United States and judges them by five criteria: assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin, and U.S. manufacturing workforce.

Taking the top spot again this year is Tesla, once again the only American car company on the list, with its Model Y. While last year's list saw the EV company sweep the top four slots, this year it faces increased competition from Honda (the Passport is at number 2, while the Ridgeline is at number 5) as well as Volkswagen.

The latter company's electric ID.4 hits number 3 this year. Masterson says that reflects the ongoing trend of carmakers diversifying their powertrain lineup to include EVs.

"If you got one of the handful of model year 2021's and then the 2022's, those were all German made" says Masterson. "But since then they've retooled their Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant and now every ID.4 you buy is rolling off those plants."

Tesla's Model 3 dropped from the number 1 position all the way to 21, thanks to its long-range model and its low percentage of American parts. "That was a big surprise to me," says Masterson. On the other hand, Masterson points out that the Model 3's performance variant has 75% percent American parts, a level only equalled by the Honda Passport.

As for the least American-made cars, Masterson acknowledges that "that's a longer list."

More than half of the cars bought in the United States last year were imports, including some iconic American brands. This includes the Buick Envista (made in South Korea) and the redesigned Lincoln Nautilus (China), as well as the Ford Bronco Sport (Mexico) and the Ford Maverick (also Mexico).

"The big takeaway is that no vehicle is 100% American," says Masterson. "No vehicle is 100% top-to-bottom from the U.S."

Additional key findings from this year’s list include:

  • 51% of vehicles on the list were assembled in the South, followed by 45% in the Midwest, and 4% in the West.
  • While over half of Americans say they prefer auto brands that are built by union labor, none of the top-10 vehicles were produced at a union plant.
  • Lexus TX made the top 10 with its first appearance on the AMI list, while the Toyota Camry and Jeep Gladiator both jumped 19 spots for a top-10 finish.
  • All of Honda's luxury-brand Acura models are made in either Ohio or Tennessee.

The complete top-10 list:

  1. Tesla Model Y
  2. Honda Passport
  3. Volkswagen ID.4
  4. Tesla Model S
  5. Honda Odyssey
  6. Honda Ridgeline
  7. Toyota Camry
  8. Jeep Gladiator
  9. Tesla Model X
  10. Lexus TX

Honda recalls 750,000 vehicles over massive flub where airbag sensors were 'not sufficiently verified' before rollout



Honda is recalling more than 750,000 of its vehicles over the risk of airbags improperly deploying.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration detailed in its report that front and knee-level airbags may deploy despite the presence of an infant or small person.

"In the event of a crash, the front passenger frontal and knee airbags may deploy despite the presence of an occupant ... for whom deployment should be suppressed, increasing the risk of injury," the report said.

The reason for the error in the seat weight sensor is a peculiar one.

"Due to a natural disaster at the manufacturing plant of a tier-2 supplier, the tier-1 supplier temporarily changed the base material in the printed circuit board of the seat weight sensor, which was not sufficiently verified for its intended use," the report read. "The alternative base material could allow additional strain to the printed circuit board that can lead to a capacitor cracking and an internal short circuit."

In this case, the natural disaster may be referring to historic flooding in east Asia in 2020. According to the Autopian, flooding may have caused a tier-2 supplier in China (which produces smaller parts) to not be able to provide materials for a significant period of time.

The outlet also theorized that the tier-1 supplier may have been "Aisin Electronics of Illinois, which is a subsidiary of mega Japanese supplier Aisin and the one listed on the recall notice."

Nevertheless, the car dealers will have to "replace the seat weight sensor with a non-defective part" for the owners for a large swath of Honda vehicles.

As reported by AL.com, the list of vehicles included:

2020-2022 Honda Accord
2020-2021 Honda Accord Hybrid
2020 Honda Civic 2-door
2020-2022 Honda Civic 4-door
2021-2022 Honda Civic hatchback
2021 Honda Civic Type R
2020-2021 Honda CR-V
2020-2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid
2020 Honda Fit
2020-2022 Honda HR-V
2021 Honda Insight
2020-2022 Honda Odyssey
2020-2022 Honda Pilot
2020-2021 Honda Passport
2020-2021 Honda Ridgeline
2020 Acura MDX
2022 Acura MDX
2020-2022 Acura RDX
2020-2021 Acura TLX

Unfortunately for Honda, just 1% of the 750,114 recalls are likely to be effected by the defect. That means only 7,500 cars could actually be effected, but, of course, its better to be safe than sorry.

Honda reportedly said in a statement that it has had 3,834 warranty claims, but there have been no reports of injuries or deaths related to the recall. As Reuters noted, the recall dates back to June 2020.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Starter Cars Are Still Out There If You Put Your Luxury Expectations In Park

Years of a generally growing economy and cheap credit might have made us set our sights too high for our first cars.

Major automakers plan to 'leverage public and private funds' to install electric vehicle charging network around North America



Seven car manufacturing giants are planning a joint effort to bolster electric vehicle charging infrastructure by installing a network of charging locations around North America.

BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, and Stellantis NV are the companies involved in the plan. A press release notes that the effort will "leverage public and private funds."

"The joint venture will include the development of a new, high-powered charging network with at least 30,000 chargers to make zero-emission driving even more attractive for millions of customers," the press release states. "With the generational investments in public charging being implemented on the Federal and State level, the joint venture will leverage public and private funds to accelerate the installation of high-powered charging for customers."

The plan is for the charging network to run off of renewable energy. It is anticipated that the first charging locations will open next summer.

"The first stations are expected to open in the United States in the summer of 2024 and in Canada at a later stage," the press release notes. "In line with the sustainability strategies of all seven automakers, the joint venture intends to power the charging network solely by renewable energy."

While traditional cars can quickly fill up at gas stations, electric vehicle charging is a much slower process. For instance, while filling up a typical sedan's gas tank may take just a couple of minutes, Tesla, a popular electric vehicle manufacturer, says that Superchargers can provide up to 200 miles of range in 15 minutes.

"The fight against climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. What we need now is speed – across political, social and corporate boundaries," Mercedes-Benz Group CEO Ola Källenius, said, according to the press release. "To accelerate the shift to electric vehicles, we're in favor of anything that makes life easier for our customers. Charging is an inseparable part of the EV-experience, and this network will be another step to make it as convenient as possible."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!