Photo: US government names “most American” cars (press-eu.kia.com) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of a 25% tariff on all imported cars and their components from any country in the world. If there is no further moratorium, they will come into force on April 3. Against this background, an updated AALA (American Automotive Labeling Act) list was released, which lists all cars sold in the US and their level of localization.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the American Automotive Labeling Act (AALA) report.
The AALA list does not clearly indicate the overall degree of localization of a specific car, but it does contain five more detailed parameters. The first is the number of components produced in the USA or Canada. Yes, there is no division between these countries yet, which blurs the final picture, but for now the official data is exactly this.
The share of foreign components, the country of final assembly, and the origin of the engine and transmission are also indicated. For example, the Toyota Corolla, popular in the US, consists of 55% American components and 25% Japanese components, and is assembled in the States.
At the same time, the “most American” car in the AALA document is considered to be the electric crossover Kia EV6, because it consists of 80% American and Canadian components, and only 15% of the components come from South Korea.
For comparison: the long-standing American bestseller Ford F150 can boast only 45% of local parts. The figure for another American legend, the Ford Mustang sports car, is even lower – only 41%, because under the hood it has an engine made in Mexico. And the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E is made in Mexico, and has as many as 78% of local components, and only 13% of components come from the USA.
Stellantis did not disclose data on its Ram, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, and among the presented models of General Motors, only the Cadillac XT4 and Chevrolet Malibu were able to achieve 39% localization. The rest rely heavily on Mexican and Korean components.
It is noteworthy that among US manufacturers, only Tesla electric cars can be called predominantly American. On average, the level of localization for the model range fluctuates between 60% and 75%, although the Mexican influence is also large (20-25%). The share of American components in Honda cars is also large: most models – from 55% to 70%. The same figures apply to the most popular Toyota models.
The data on Nissan and Volkswagen are also indicative. The first company produces marginal Murano and Pathfinder crossovers in the States (both have 50% localization), but the production of budget models Kicks, Sentra and Versa is organized in Mexico (all three have 10-15% of parts from the USA). The production of large Volkswagen Atlas crossovers is carried out in the USA (60% localization), but inexpensive Jetta and Taos have Mexican registration and only 6-18% of components from the USA.
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