- An annual study of the cars with the most American and Canadian content places Tesla’s entire lineup at the top of its list
- A year of chaotic changes in the automotive industry meant a lot of change further down the list
Every year, American University’s Kogod School of Business studies the amount of content in every car sold in the U.S. that originates in the U.S. or Canada (more on why in a moment). In recent years, there’s rarely any suspense to the conclusions.
Tesla dominates the top of the list.
The company currently offers five models for sale to consumers. In the 2025 edition of the Made in America Auto Index, all five rank in the top six.
Stellantis – parent company of Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and other brands – also made a strong showing in 2025. The list saw an unusual amount of change this year, says author Frank DuBois, professor emeritus in the school’s Department of Information Technology and Analytics.
That may be a sign of things to come. “The next two years will be an interesting period of time,” he says, as automakers shift production in response to “public relations, relations with the Trump administration, and relations with the unions.”
American and Canadian Parts?
- Federal law requires automakers to disclose a car’s American and Canadian content, but doesn’t differentiate between the two
- Sorting out what percentage comes from Canada would be challenging, says the study’s author
The study tracks the percentage of U.S. and Canadian content in each car, without differentiating between the two. That’s a function of federal law, says DuBois.
“U.S. vs. Canadian content is still pretty murky to the automakers themselves,” he explains. Parts can cross the border multiple times as they are assembled into larger and larger components.
“It’s like baking a cake,” he says. “Once you’ve baked it, you can’t pull out the eggs and milk.”
He noted the case of a heater hose used in the GMC Acadia. “The hose is made by an American company. But it has a heat sensor embedded in it that has ‘made in Czech Republic’ stamped on it. GM buys the completed part from a supplier. How do they classify its origin?”
2025 Has Seen Many Shifts
- Tariffs and trade wars have automakers shifting their supply lines regularly
- That meant some big changes this year
Two years ago, there was little political controversy in America over car parts. Today, they’re the subject of heavy tariffs and political jockeying over where future factories could be built.
But automakers don’t make decisions at the speed of politics. “It takes two to three years just to get a plant up and running,” says DuBois.
This year, the school says, “VW, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda all increased their U.S. content, while GM, Ford, and Stellantis witnessed drops in domestic sourcing.”
The biggest shift this year, DuBois says, came from the Ford Mustang. It dropped out of the top 10 as its U.S. and Canadian content fell from 60% to 41% — a consequence of sourcing more parts from Mexico in the wake of tariffs, he explains.
The 15 Cars in the Top 10
Ties make this year’s top 10 list 15 entries long. Two trim levels of the same car can differ in domestic content, as manufacturers might use more imported parts to build some trim levels.
| 1 | Tesla Model 3 Long Range |
| 2 (tie) | Tesla Model 3 Performance |
| 2 (tie) | Tesla Model Y Long Range All |
| 2 (tie) | Tesla Model Y Performance |
| 3 (tie) | Tesla Cybertruck |
| 3 (tie) | Tesla Model S |
| 4 | Jeep Gladiator |
| 5 | Dodge Durango |
| 6 | Tesla Model X |
| 7 (tie) | Jeep Grand Cherokee |
| 7 (tie) | Jeep Grand Cherokee L |
| 8 | Chevrolet Express |
| 8 | GMC Savana |
| 9 | Jeep Wrangler |
| 10 | Kia EV6 |
