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As car companies have morphed into multinationals, it has gotten difficult to discern what qualifies as an American car.
Walking around a car show in Washington D.C. earlier this year, Frank DuBois, a professor of international business at nearby American University, couldn’t help but notice the “Made In America” stickers plastered all over a Toyota Tundra pickup truck. The stickers indeed are accurate. Toyota assembles the Tundra in San Antonio, Texas, and the vehicle’s engine and transmission are produced in the United States, as well. But in DuBois’ view, the advertisements provided a simplified answer to a complicated question.
In the automotive realm, the practice of buying American or “Domestic” is one that’s open to interpretation. Does buying Domestic mean buying a Chrysler? Because the company has merged with Italian-owned Fiat. Does it mean buying a Ford Fiesta assembled in Mexico? A BMW assembled in South Carolina? A Tundra built in San Antonio, with much of its research and development conducted in Japan? A Ford assembled in Oakville, Ontario?
DuBois tells Autoblog Canada that he developed the “Made In America Auto Index” to help sort through the answers to those questions.
As car companies have morphed into multinational corporations that operate on a global scale, it has gotten more difficult than ever to discern what qualifies as an American or Domestic car. In his analysis, DuBois ranks vehicles in seven separate categories, weighing factors such as assembly locations, amount of domestic content included, where research and development is conducted and overall economic impact in North America.
Ford’s F-Series pickup line and the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray rank as the ‘Most American’ cars in this year’s index, the results of which were released Thursday. Both cars scored an 87.5 in the 100-point index. Last year’s study toppers were General Motors’ Lambda crossovers.
Latest ‘Made In America Auto Index’ topped by Ford F-Series, Chevy Corvette
Latest ‘Made In America Auto Index’ topped by Ford F-Series, Chevy Corvette originally appeared on Autoblog Canada on Sun, 04 May 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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