New Study Shows Jeep Cherokee Is ‘More American’ than Chevy & Ford
Cherokee claims top spot on Cars’ ‘2018 American-made Index’ after the Wrangler fell off last year.
The constantly changing face of the global auto industry has made it hard to determine how “American” a vehicle is based on the company that produces it. For example, American automaker Dodge builds the Challenger in Canada and the Hemi engines in Mexico, while Japanese automaker Toyota builds the Camry and its engines in the USA. That creates some discussion as to whether American cars are really American made, but the folks at Cars.com have come up with a process to rank the “American-ness” of every vehicle sold in the USA and they call it the American Made Index (AMI).
For the second year in a row, Cars.com has found a Jeep to be the most American-made vehicle sold in the US, with the Jeep Cherokee replacing the Wrangler at the top of the list.
Cars.com’s ‘American-made’ Test
Cars.com introduced the AMI some 13 years ago, but for 2017, the outlet made a major revision to the program. In the early years, the system focused on sales volume, where the vehicles were built and where the automaker was located. However, with the continued globalization of the auto industry, Cars.com found that fewer vehicles met the criteria for the AMI each year.
As a result, starting in 2017, the American Made Index was restructured to look more closely at things like American domestic-parts content, American sourcing for engines and transmissions, and the number of American manufacturing jobs supported per vehicle.
Under the previous system that went out of service after 2016, the Toyota Camry was the most American vehicle according to Cars.com based mostly on the fact that it sold so well and it was made in America. Under the new system, the Jeep Wrangler was the most American vehicle in 2017 and for 2018, another Jeep is at the top of the list – with the refreshed Cherokee serving as the most American vehicle sold in the USA.
2018 American Made Index
For 2018, Cars.com found that the Jeep Cherokee was the most American-made vehicle sold in the USA with 72 percent domestic components and an entire lineup of engines and transmissions that are built in America while the vehicles themselves are assembled in Belvidere, Illinois.
No numbers are given for second or third place, but we know that the Honda Odyssey and Ridgeline finished behind the Cherokee. Both of those vehicles are built in Lincoln, Alabama and in addition to heavy amounts of domestic components, their drivetrains are built in the U.S.
After topping the list in 2017, the new JL Wrangler has fallen out of the top ten, even though many of the details of the popular SUV have remained same from the previous generation.
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