What makes a car 'American'? - ConsumerReports.org
“What you’ll typically see instead is larger components made near the point of sale, to save shipping costs, while small components like electric motors and actuators will be brought in from anywhere. The traditional Detroit automakers accounted for almost 6 million of the more than 11 million vehicles made in the U. S. last year—although Toyota and Honda are close to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as the No. 3 U. S. producer. To help consumers understand how “American” a new vehicle is, every car has to display a parts-content window sticker. That country-of-origin statement has been required since 1994 by the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA). It lists the final assembly point, source of the engine and transmission, and which countries supplied 15 percent or more of the vehicle’s equipment. Detroit’s Big Three automakers happened to own a string of auto and component plants just northeast of Detroit in Ontario. Also, the AALA doesn’t account for where the profits on the sale of a vehicle end up. And the origination label traces a vehicle part back only so far. So the profits from a Honda Civic assembled in Indiana ultimately return to Japan, and profits from a Chevrolet Trax crossover built in South Korea return to Detroit. Source: www.consumerreports.org
