As we head into the July 4 holiday, we like to revisit the Cars.com American-Made Index (AMI) to check out the most American trucks for 2023. It used to be simple: If it was an American brand (Ram, Ford, Chevy, GMC), it was made in America. But with the onslaught of a global economy, it’s not that simple anymore.
As the folks at Cars.com point out it’s a struggle for most vehicles in 2023 to hit 60% American and Canadian parts.
For the 2023 AMI, vehicles are judged through five criteria: assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin and U.S. manufacturing workforce. Cars.com vetted 388 vehicles to arrive at the 100 that made this year’s index.
Most American trucks
Of the 17 trucks on the AMI, the Honda Ridgeline is the most American-made truck, followed by another “non” American brand. That’s the third year running the Asian automaker has topped the most American trucks list.
And the Detroit Three brands are clustered at the bottom of the list.
The most American “American” truck is the Jeep Gladiator, which leaps up 13 slots on the ranking from the 2022 AMI.
The GMC Canyon, Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger and Ford F-150, which were the next four most American trucks in 2022, had big drops for 2023, and they’re supplanted from their 1 to 4 truck ranking by the Toyota Tundra, Ram 1500 and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
If you’re wondering why the Toyota Tacoma isn’t on this list, that’s because it’s now assembled exclusively in Mexico. We’ll see if that changes with the 2024 model.
All the trucks, and their ranks are listed below. For the full AMI, head over to the Cars.com 2023 listing.
| Make | Model | AMI Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honda | Ridgeline | 9 |
| 2 | Toyota | Tundra | 12 |
| 3 | Jeep | Gladiator | 27 |
| 4 | Ram | 1500 | 28 |
| 5 | Hyundai | Santa Cruz | 31 |
| 6 | GMC | Canyon | 33 |
| 7 | Chevrolet | Colorado | 34 |
| 8 | Ford | F-150 Lightning (EV) | 38 |
| 9 | Toyota | Tundra hybrid (HEV) | 47 |
| 10 | Nissan | Titan | 55 |
| 11 | Ford | F-150 hybrid (HEV) | 61 |
| 12 | Nissan | Frontier | 65 |
| 13 | Ford | F-150 | 66 |
| 14 | Ford | Ranger | 77 |
| 15 | Ram | 1500 Classic | 87 |
| 16 | GMC | Sierra 1500 | 95 |
| 17 | Chevrolet | Silverado 1500 | 96 |
The bottom line
American made isn’t what it once was. Cars.com takes a lot of factors into consideration – including American jobs. So, if you’re truly concerned about giving Americans money, you should take a close look at the AMI before buying your truck. Especially since buying Ram, Ford, Chevy or GMC these days means you’re throwing more money overseas.
