Ford Motor Company (F), General Motors Company (GM) And The Truth About American-Made Vehicles

At this point, I decided to scrap the Cars.com index, and I found a much better study done by Prof. Frank DuBois of the Kogod School of Business at American University. This study viewed 253 cars, trucks, and SUVs to determine which had the most domestic content. It took into account labor, R&D, inventory, capital spent, engine parts, transmission parts, body, interior, chassis, electrical, and profits.

Tied at the top of this list, with a score of 88.5 out of a 100, were the Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse, and GMC Acadia, which were all made in Michigan. Ford’s F-Series — the No. 1 truck in the U.S. — was tied for second, with the Dodge Avenger at 87.5. Next up were two American muscle icons — the Mustang and Corvette — with a score of 85. You have to go down to a score of 81 to find the first foreign vehicle — the Toyota Avalon. These results are a world away from the Cars.com index, yet, in my opinion, are much more accurate.

Buy American
The best thing that could happen for Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) investors is for the American public to once again back our automotive industry and actually buy American. Out auto industry supports nearly 8 million U.S. jobs and is expected to hire as many as 34,000 more workers over the next five years — led by Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).

But while some consumers still think Japanese cars are as American-made as American cars are, others don’t buy American because they think our vehicles are still poorer in quality. Consider this: Since 2010, Toyota and Honda have the most recalls of any automaker. Moreover, Toyota, previously known for its industry-leading quality, has more recalls than the No. 2 and 3 spots combined, or GM tripled.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and GM aren’t the same two companies that pumped out terrible vehicles and had management that ran themselves into the ground. Both are producing quality and, most importantly, American-made vehicles.

Maybe it’s time to give Detroit a second chance.

The article The Truth About American-Made Vehicles originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Ford, General Motors, Google, and Intel and owns shares of Apple, Ford, Google, and Intel.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.