Autos

Want an American-Made Car? Tesla Now Officially Tops That Category, Too.

It’s the first time an electric vehicle has topped the American-Made Index

A silver Tesla Model 3 driving down the road. The electric car was just ranked first in the American-Made Index.

If you want to buy American, for your next car you should consider the Tesla Model 3.

By Alex Lauer

If you can forgive the endless social-media-fueled controversies surrounding CEO Elon Musk, Tesla is possibly the greatest American manufacturing story of the 21st century. While the electric vehicle company got its start building off of a British framework, the factories in California, Nevada and New York (not to mention the upcoming plant in Austin, Texas, where the Cybertruck will supposedly be made) have reignited interest in building goods right here in the States. 

However, just because a car is made in a U.S. factory doesn’t mean it’s 100% American-made. That’s why every year Cars.com puts together the American-Made Index (AMI), which “analyzes a range of factors to determine just how American your prospective car or truck might be,” including where the parts come from and the percentage of U.S. manufacturing workers. The latest edition was released Wednesday, as pointed out by The Drive.

The winner this year, beating out even the red-white-and-blue-blooded Ford Mustang, is the all-electric Tesla Model 3. Not only is it the first time Tesla has made it on the top of the list, it’s the first time any EV has won out in the 16-year history of the ranking. Plus, the company’s newer SUV, the Model Y, came in at number three. 

But what about the high-performance Model S (which recently got a Plaid upgrade) and the older Model X SUV? As Cars.com noted, both of those models were updated for the 2021 model year and the outlet was unable to retrieve “sufficient data” to rank them. For what it’s worth, the Model S came in at number three last year, above the Model 3, which ranked fourth (that was also the first year Tesla provided info in order to be included in the index).

Here’s the list of the top 20:

  1. Tesla Model 3
  2. Ford Mustang
  3. Tesla Model Y
  4. Jeep Cherokee
  5. Chevrolet Corvette
  6. Honda Ridgeline
  7. Honda Odyssey
  8. Honda Pilot
  9. Honda Passport
  10. Toyota Tundra
  11. Ford Expedition, Expedition Max
  12. Acura RDX
  13. Acura TLX
  14. Chevrolet Colorado
  15. GMC Canyon
  16. Jeep Grand Cherokee
  17. Honda Accord
  18. Toyota Avalon
  19. Lexus ES
  20. Lincoln Navigator, Navigator L

So what’s last on the list? Of the 90 cars included (there are more sold in the U.S., obviously, but there are some parameters for inclusion), the Honda Civic comes in at the bottom. But as Cars.com wrote, that vehicle still comes in ahead of 254 unranked models.

You can read more about the AMI and its methodology here.

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