Jeep Cherokee is the 'most American' car on American-made index
The Camry is once again nowhere to be found.
A car isn't American just because it has a Big Three badge.
With parts coming in from all over the world, it's not easy to determine what car qualifies as "American" these days, but for the second year in a row, a Jeep lives atop Cars.com's American-Made Index. This time, it's the Jeep Cherokee, which is built in Belvidere, Illinois. It has nearly 72 percent domestic parts, and all its engines and transmissions come from elsewhere in the US.
Hondas occupy the next two spots -- the Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup, respectively -- both of which are built in Lincoln , Alabama. The Ford Taurus (Chicago) and Chevrolet Volt (Detroit) round up the top five. The bottom half of the list comprises (in order) the Honda Pilot, Acura MDX, Ford Explorer, Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Corvette.
Cars.com's American-Made Index factors in more than just assembly location, although that is definitely an important part of it. It also looks at engine and transmission sourcing, domestic parts content and factory employment. It excludes fleet-only vehicles like police cars, as well as vehicles with fewer than 2,500 annual sales and gross vehicle weight ratings in excess of 8,500 pounds. If a car is manufactured both locally and abroad, that's factored in, too.
Last year's winner, the Jeep Wrangler, fell off this year's list thanks to its redesign, which relies on more foreign parts. Starting last year, perennial list favorites like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry were eliminated when Cars.com changed its methodology to remove sales volume as a factor.
