How to buy American Part 2 of ?: Car Edition

    A couple of weeks back, I made my first post on how to buy American.  In that post, I said that it is time to declare war on the Great Recession and the way we fight this war is by buying American made goods.  If everybody in the US spent 100 dollars on American made goods instead of foreign made goods, it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs.  Here is how to buy American cars...

     By one estimate, the US Auto Industry contributes 500 billion dollars to US GDP.  The US GDP is 13 trillion dollars so the auto industry makes up about 4% of the US economy.  That's huge!  It is clear that if we all got together to buy a US car we could seriously impact the US economy in a positive way and generate jobs. 

     "Some private industries are integral to long-term national financial viability. The Detroit car industry—like our aircraft manufacturing capacity—falls into this category," says Bloomberg Business Week.

Some facts about the US auto industry....

•  The American auto industry supports 3 million jobs including auto dealers, parts suppliers and of course assemblers.
• American car manufacturers spend billions of dollars on plant equipment and research and development every year directly contributing to jobs in other industries.
• Car manufacturers are important to national security.
• Manufacturing is the single biggest contributor to national economic activity and auto manufacturing is the biggest part of US manufacturing.

           After the bailouts of 2 major US car manufacturers GM and Chrysler, the industry has had to reinvent itself.  GM and Chrysler were drowning in red ink and made cars that were too big, cost too much and made by workers who made too much and received too many benefits.  After their near death experience the companies renegotiated the contracts with their unions and resolved to make better cars that Americans want to buy and are smaller and more efficient.  Largely, they have succeeded.   While the quality isn't as good as other manufacturers like Ford or Toyota, they are improving.

     Ford on the other hand, never took a dime from the government and is positioned better than ever to succeed.  They renegotiated the contracts with their unions and will be solidly profitable even in hard times.  They have great new small fuel efficient cars like the Focus and they still make the #1 selling pickup in the United States the F150.  Their quality has improved greatly and is even better than Toyota's now in some surveys.

     The best way to support the US Auto industry is to buy an American car made in the USA.  You might ask, "wait aren't all American cars made in the USA?"   Surprisingly, the answer is no, there are many American cars made in Canada and Mexico.  Car companies moved some of their manufacturing there because wages are lower and unions are weaker.  In order to support the American worker, it is best to buy an American car assembled in America and avoid those cars assembled in Mexico, Canada and elsewhere.

     Here are all the American cars assembled in the USA according to www.howtobuyamerican.com

Chrysler- Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Calibur, Dodge Dakota, Dodge Nitro, Jeep Compass, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Ram

GM- Cadillac CTS, DTS, STS, Escalade, Chevy Corvette, Cruze, Colorado, Express, Malibu, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, Tahoe hybrid, Traverse, GMC Acadia, Canyon, Savana, Sierra, Yukon.

Ford- Ford Econoline, Escape, Escape Hybrid, Expedition, Explorer, F150, F250, Focus, Mustang, Ranger, Shelby GT500, Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Navigator.

     Even some foreign cars are assembled here in USA however, they generally do not use too many American parts. 

BMW- X3, X5, X5M, X6, X6 M, X6 hybrid

Honda- Acura RDX, Acura TL, Honda Accord, Accord (Crosstour), Civic Sedans, CR-V, Element, Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline

Hyundai- Hyundai Santa Fe and Sonata

Kia- Kia Sorrento

Mazda- Mazda 6, Mazda Tribute, Mazda Tribute hybrid

Mercedes-Benz- Mercedes GL-class, M-class, R-class

Mitsubishi- Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder, Edeavour, Galant

Nissan- Altima, Armada, Frontier, Maxima, Pathfinder, Titan, Xterra

Subaru- Legacy, Outback, Tribeca, Equator

Toyota- Avalon, Camry, Camry hybrid, Highlander, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, Tundra and Venza

      Here are cars that are not assembled in America and could be avoided(although buying the American ones still support America)

Assembled in Canada- Acura MDX, ZDX, Chevy Camaro, Equinox, Impala, Chrysler 300, Town & Country, Dodge Challenger, Charger, Grand Caravan, Ford Flex, Edge,  GMC Terrain, Honda Civic Sedan, Civic Coupe, Civic Coupe Si, Lexus RX 350, Lincoln MKT, MKX, Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Volkswagen Routan

Assembled in Mexico- Cadillac Escalade EXT, SRX, Chevrolet Avalanche, Aveo, HHR, Silverado, Silverado hybrid, Dodge Journey, Ford Fiesta, Fusion, Fusion hybrid, GMC Sierra, Sierra hybrid, Sierra crew cab, Honda CR-V, Lincoln MKZ, MKZ hybrid, Nissan Sentra, Versa, Dodge Ram 2500, 3500, 4500, 5500, Toyota Tacoma(made in USA as well), Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta sportswagon.

     While this list is by no means comprehensive, it can give you a reference to go by once you decide to purchase your American car.  To get the most bang for your buck when trying to support the US economy it's best to buy American cars assembled in America.  Second best would be to buy foreign cars made in America.  To fight the war on the Great Recession we need to buy more American made goods and support American manufacturing!  More later...