Tesla dominates the list of most American-made cars

Tesla dominates the list of most American-made cars, now with the Model Y taking the top spot on the 2022 list.

Until somewhat recently, there were still many people who don’t even know that Tesla is an American automaker. There would be, semi-regularly, someone who would compliment my Tesla without knowing what it was, and they would ask where it is from.

That has stopped over the last few years, however, as Tesla has become completely mainstream. The truth is that Tesla is not only an American automaker, but it is arguably the most American automaker.

Cars.com runs an annual American Made-Index to determine what cars made in the US are the most American-made:

• Location of final assembly
• Percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts
• Country of origin for available engines
• Country of origin for available transmissions
• U.S. manufacturing employees relative to the automaker’s footprint

Tesla already took the first place last year with the Model 3, but they have now released their 2022 list, and Tesla dominates it this year with the number 1 and 2 spots and four vehicles in the top 10:

Jenni Newman, Cars.com editor-in-chief, commented on the new list:

The composition of this year’s much-anticipated American-Made Index is particularly interesting in the context of our current marketplace, where high gas prices and scarce inventory meet peak consumer interest in electric vehicles and a heightened demand for American-made products. That Tesla — an American-made all-electric make — appears frequently and high up on the list may indicate a coming alignment of market forces that could really explode once we break through microchip supply chain issues, especially if gas prices remain historically high. It also bodes well for other OEMs, including Honda, Ford and GM, working to diversify product lines with more EV and hybrid options.

Tesla benefits from being highly vertically integrated while the rest of the industry has focused on vehicle bodies, assembly, and engines while relying on suppliers for much of the rest of their vehicles.

Model 3 and Model Y score higher than Model S and Model X because Tesla is getting the battery cells for the formers from Panasonic at Gigafactory Nevada, while the cells for Model S and X are coming from Japan.