Cars.com has posted its 2014 American-Made Index. The study put the Ford F-150 at the top of the list, due the high volume of sales of the vehicle this year.
The study uses sales volume, whether the car is assembled in the U.S. and the percentage of domestic parts to determine an overall rating. Vehicles with less than 75 percent domestic parts content according to federal standards are disqualified. The Ford F-150 took the top spot, followed by the Toyota Camry. The top two have remained the same for the last several years, but below that the list has changed. The Honda Odyssey has moved up to third place with the imminent discontinuation of the Dodge Avenger disqualifying it from the running. GM's Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia were also disqualified this year due to the total percentage of domestic parts dropping below 75 percent.
"Cars.com's American-Made Index recognizes cars that are built here, have a high percentage of domestic parts and are bought in large numbers by American consumers," the company says in a statement.
In fact, the top 10 are more like the only ten this year. No other vehicles qualified under the index's standards. In 2011, 30 cars contained 75 percent domestic parts or more. That number dropped to 20 in 2012 and to 14 in 2013. This year 13 cars met the threshold, but three were disqualified due to imminent discontinuation.
"In today's global economy, there's no easy way to determine just how American a car is," says Cars.com in the statement. "Many cars built in the U.S., for example, are assembled using parts that come from elsewhere. Some cars assembled in the U.S. from largely American-made parts don't sell well, meaning fewer Americans are employed to build them."
The Ford F-150 and Toyota Camry continue to top the list due to keeping the same domestic parts percentage while selling a large number of vehicles. However, the ineligibility of many past winners has made room for new cards to join the list. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Honda Ridgeline, Honda Crosstour and Dodge SRT Viper all made it on for the first time in 2014.
