Ford Ranger Named Vehicle With The Most U.S. Content

For the last 43 years, the Ford F-150 has been the leading truck seller in the country, outpacing Chevy, GMC, RAM, and others. It's quite an excellent achievement. In 2020, it is an achievement that has been joined by a second significant achievement, Ford's midsized pickup, the Ranger, has been chosen as the vehicle with the most American-made content. The Ranger rejoined Ford's lineup in the 2019 model year.

According to Cars.Com, the leading automotive site that made the determination, the Ranger's parts content reached the 70 percent mark for 2020. According to Cars, with the parts sourcing for its 2.3-liter four as well as the transmission, the Ranger's parts U.S.-sourced parts topped the Jeep Cherokee and Tesla Model S on the 2020 parts index.

2020 Survey A First ForTesla

Interestingly, this is the first that Tesla has participated in this survey. The study looked at three Tesla models, the Model S hatchback, Model 3 sedan, and the Model X SUV. All of them rank in the top 10. Honda and its luxury Acura brand is also in the top tier with seven models in total. GM is another automaker that made the top tier with six models with the top 20.

Passenger vehicles from 13 automakers make up the 2020 American-Made Index. And, though other manufacturers also build cars in the U.S., none of those makers met Cars.com's criteria. The following list details the top Model from those that meet the criteria. The bulleted list is alphabetical. Overall manufacturer rankings are in parentheses.

• BMW: BMW X5 (78)
• Daimler: Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class (43)
• Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Jeep Cherokee (2)
• Ford: Ford Ranger (1)
• Geely: Volvo S60 (80)
• GM: Chevrolet Corvette (8)
• Honda: Honda Odyssey (5)
• Hyundai-Kia: Kia Optima (35)
• Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi: Nissan Pathfinder (48)
• Subaru: Subaru Ascent (72)
• Tesla: Tesla Model S (3)
• Toyota: Toyota Tundra (16)
• VW Group: Volkswagen Atlas (67)

Survey Polled More Than 1,000 U.S. Drivers

In an interesting aside, Cars.com surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. licensed drivers last month and found that 70 percent believe a car's U.S. economic impact a major or the deciding factor in their vehicle purchase. This is up from 66 percent in 2019.

Putting a finer point on it, the survey sought to find out if the continuing coronavirus pandemic affected where the cars of their choice were made. Fully 37 percent said it had increased while only four percent said it had decreased.

Marc Stern has been an auto writer since 1971. It was a position that filled two boyhood dreams: One was that I would write, and two that I write about cars. When I took over as my newspaper's auto editor, I began a 32-year career as an automotive columnist. There isn't much on four wheels that I haven't driven or reviewed. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. Today, I am the Ford F150 reporter for Torque News. I write how-to and help columns for online sites such as Fixya.com and others. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Most of Marc's stories can be found at Torque News Ford coverage. Check back again and search for Torque News Ford F-150 news for more F-150 truck news coverage.