F150 Finally Manages to Win A “Most America” Truck Award
Jason Lancaster | Jul 03, 2012 | Comments 9
In 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the Toyota Tundra was recognized by Cars.com as either the most “American” truck on the market or the 2nd most American truck, meaning that the Tundra was built in the USA using the highest percentage of domestic parts compared to any other pickup. Ford, GM, and Ram (aka Chrysler-Fiat) didn’t always have a truck that qualified in these years because at least 30% – and sometimes 50% – of many F-series, Ram, and GM trucks used parts that came from outside the USA.
UPDATE – I over-reached here and made a mistake in the paragraph above (corrections are in green). The F150 was the most American truck in 2008 and 2009, but it fell off the list in 2010 and 2011. The Ram was “most American” in 2010, but that’s a bit of a misnomer, as Cars.com excluded regular cab Ram trucks that year (which are built in Mexico) for reasons that just aren’t logical to me. The Ram never deserved to win this award considering they build trucks in Mexico.
Still, this post is factually mistaken and generally wrong. My apologies.
However, in 2012, Ford won the Cars.com Most American Truck award. For the first time since 2007, the F-150 has 75% domestic content, which is the minimum threshold for consideration. The Tundra (which also has 75% domestic content), is the 2nd most American truck on the market in 2012 because it doesn’t sell as well as the F150.
Considering that Ford is an American company, and considering that every 2012 F150 is assembled in either Dearborn, Michigan or Missouri, it’s about damn time that Ford won this award. The question is, where are GM and Ram?
Answer? Sitting at 62% domestic content (GM) and 70% domestic content (Ram) respectively, both of which are below the minimum threshold to be included in the Cars.com rankings. What’s more, many of the engines in Ram and GM trucks are made in Mexico, and even some of Ram’s trucks are built in Mexico.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with the quality of vehicles built in Mexico, nor is there anything inherently wrong with a vehicle being built outside the USA. What’s wrong (at least in my view) is tricking the consumer into thinking your truck is the “heartbeat of America” when if fact it’s the least American truck on the market.
Tundra Owners Still On Top
While it’s disappointing the Tundra is no longer the most “American” truck on the market, you can still taunt every domestic truck owner you know. The F150 is supposed to win this award – beating the Tundra purely on the basis of sales figures (both have same content percentage) is nothing special.
As for GM and Ram, well, they don’t have an excuse, do they? If you care about supporting the American worker, buying a Tundra is no worse than buying an F150 and at least a little bit better than buying a Ram or GM truck.
You can see the government data for yourself here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/AALA/2012_AALA_Alpha_rev3.pdf
Filed Under: Auto News
So, not only did the Tundra raise the bar for capability back in 2007, and to this day, they also raised the bar for domestic parts content, which in turn leads to more American jobs. Does that make sense? I think so 🙂
Finally? Ford has been dominating the index.
“In 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the Toyota Tundra was recognized by Cars.com as the most “American” truck on the market, meaning that the Tundra was built in the USA using the highest percentage of domestic parts compared to any other pickup. Ford, GM, and Ram (aka Chrysler-Fiat) didn’t have a truck that qualified in these years because at least 30% – and sometimes 50% – of each F-series, Ram, or GM truck used parts that came from outside the USA.”
Huh?
2008 was F-150
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/.....ubject=ami
2009 was F-150
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/.....amMade0709
2010 was Ram
2011 was Tundra
2012 is F-150 again
I would check NHTSA.com. They have a different view.
Dave – I screwed up. My apologies. I’ve corrected the article.
However, please note that the Ram won in 2010 on a pretty glaring technicality. Cars.com “excluded” all the Rams built in Mexico in order to arrive at their figure. That strikes me as cherry picking at best and disingenious at worst.
I thought a few years ago the tundra was like 79% american made parts. Why did it drop to only 75% since 99% of parts are still the same from 2007 thru 2012, except a few minor trim/interior pieces is all that is different?
mk – I’m not sure why the numbers fluctuate. Most of the parts are sourced in the USA on this vehicle (not much comes from Japan b/c the Tundra is North America only), but I’m guessing it has something to do with component suppliers in Mexico.
Still, 75% is better than Ford’s worst in previous years (61%), GM’s worst (51%), and Ram’s worst too.
How does selling more trucks make you more american when you have the same part content? Sounds like a payoff. Another CR report to me. Agree mk when the Tundra for the longest actually had written 80%. Even on here it was written at 80%.
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