For two decades now, the number-crunchers at Cars.com have leveraged data from the American Automobile Labeling Act along with that of myriad different sources to generate the American Made Index, which this year includes 99 entries. It’s a list, in order, of every car and truck model that’s at least partially assembled in the U.S., ranked by content from most to least American Made*, based on a 100-point scale (with top finishers typically separated by fractions of a point). This year’s tariff landscape has amped up the pertinence of the American Made Index. Here, we break down the highlights, and as the tariff landscape continually changes, simply know that models ranked highest on this list should be impacted the least.
*Per the AALA, a part made in Canada counts the same as one made in the USA.
Tesla still on top
As it has since 2021, Tesla claims the top spot, but in a surprise move, last year’s no.-21-ranked Tesla Model 3 surpassed the three-year, list-topping Model Y, owing to changes in battery sourcing. And this year — as it did in 2023 — Tesla locked in the top four spots on the list.
Detroit’s Big Three hold 36 spots
GM holds 15 spots on the list, Ford 13, and Stellantis has just eight — but its two Jeeps rank higher than all Ford and GM models. Cars.com notes that 50 percent of all vehicles sold in 2025 are imported.
Jeep Gladiator highest-ranking Big-Three nameplate
Rising from number eight to number five this year, the Toledo-born Jeep Gladiator ranks seven spots ahead of its Wrangler sibling, which is still six spots ahead of the next closest Big Three finisher: the Chevrolet Colorado at no. 19.
Top-ranked Ford at No. 22
Ford’s advertising would have you believe it is the most American brand — and maybe it is, when considering metrics like number of hourly autoworkers, vehicles built here, etc. But by the American-Made Index rules, the electric Ford F-150 Lightning is the brand’s highest-ranking model at number 22. At least that’s up from no. 31, where the Mustang ranked as Ford’s highest in 2024 (this year that pony falls to no. 56).
Biggest climber and loser
Sourcing the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid’s engine from the U.S. instead of Brazil and Japan vaulted that model up from no. 66 to no. 18. Meanwhile, sourcing changes in the opposite direction saw the brand’s RAV4 Hybrid fall to the very bottom of the list, dropping from no. 65 to no. 99.
Highest domestic content
New to the list this year were the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and EV9 electric SUVs, many of which are now being built in Georgia. And the EV6 came in with 80 percent U.S./Canada domestic parts content.
Michigan builds the most American models
The Motor Cities of the Mitten State assemble 15 vehicles on the list — more than any other state. This helps rank the Midwest quite highly, though the number of most American cars hailing from southern states has increased 17 percent since 2020.
Double the number of EVs
Last year, five EVs made the list, but as battery and assembly plants come online in the U.S. to boost content, that number has swelled to 11 in 2025 — though it’s notable that the Cadillac Lyriq’s domestic content plunged from 62 percent last year (ranking it no. 71) to 11 percent this year (landing it in 98th).
What this list can’t tell you
This is all about the people assembling the parts and the geographic source of the components themselves — it says nothing about where the profits from these sales end up. It also doesn’t give any credit for foreign-assembled cars with high U.S.-Canadian parts content (like, perhaps, the Mexican-made Ford Maverick, Bronco Sport or Mach-E).
The most American cars, trucks and SUVs you can buy:
We’ll be interested to see how this list grows and changes as a result of tariff pressure to onshore production of vehicles and components in the years to come.
Photos by manufacturer