The Tesla Model S, Model 3, and Model X were listed on Cars.com’s “Top 10 American Manufacturing Indices” list, ranking three out of ten in the motorsport resource rankings. This was a debut for Tesla, as this year marks the first year that the Silicon Valley-based automaker made its first appearance in the Cars.com ranking.
The annual survey ranks new vehicles that “contribute the most to the US economy.” Through jobs in factories, manufacturing plants, and parts sourcing in the US Often, American automakers like Ford and Chevrolet dominate the list because of their trucks in the mass market. Other popular manufacturers, such as Honda, for example, have been listed more frequently in recent years of ranking.
Tesla, with its growing popularity and expanding fleet of mass market vehicles, reached the Top 10 for the first time. However, it wasn’t just the ultra-popular Model 3 that appeared. The flagship Tesla Model S and Model X were also listed, linking Honda to the most vehicles in the Top 10 ranking of 2020, USA Today reports.
The Tesla Model S, Model 3 and Model X finished third, fourth and ninth, respectively, in the standings. The Ford Ranger, a product of Wayne, Michigan, and the Jeep Cherokee, made in Belvidere, Illinois, outperformed Tesla’s flagship sedan, which is built in Fremont, California.
According to Cars.com’s senior vehicle evaluation and consumer affairs editor Kelsey Mays, Tesla made the list this year because it was the first time the automaker had provided adequate information to qualify its vehicles for rankings.
Mays added: “Tesla is the only automaker on the list that manufactured 100% of the cars in the United States that it sells here.”
Cars.com said Teslarati that Tesla’s identification with Americans has grown considerably since last year. According to a survey by the automotive resource, only 10% of American car buyers recognized Tesla as a “made in California” vehicle in 2019. About 18% of respondents now identify Tesla as a company based in California. However, only half of all respondents knew that Tesla was American, and only a third of those who participated thought the Model S was built within the United States.
Mays said where a car is produced is becoming a more important factor for consumers, and Cars.com created the list to highlight which vehicles are made in the United States. The impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy has contributed to that, and U.S. car buyers are more focused on buying locally to support the automotive sector, which employs 9.9 million people, according to AutoAlliance.org.
“We live in a global economy, but Cars.com’s research found that 70% of American buyers consider the economic impact of a car in the United States to be a significant or decisive factor in purchasing their vehicle,” he said. Mays. “The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing Americans’ desire to buy local products, and 37% report that they are more likely to purchase a vehicle made in the United States in light of the economic disruption of COVID-19.”
Tesla’s Fremont facility employs 12,000 people, providing a sizable amount of manufacturing jobs for Northern Californians. It is currently the only facility in the US. USA Where Tesla builds its vehicles, but the company is looking to open a second facility in the central United States soon.
Tesla had already reopened its Giga Shanghai production facility in mid-February by implementing a series of new health codes that would preserve the safety of its workforce. The same strategies are being used at Fremont, where Tesla focuses on increasing the production rates of its Model 3 and Model Y while maintaining stable construction rates for the Model S and Model X.
The list of the top 10 American-made indices from Cars.com is below.
Cars.com 2020 Top 10 US Index
- Ford Ranger (Wayne, Michigan)
- Jeep Cherokee (Belvidere, Illinois)
- Tesla Model S (Fremont, California)
- Tesla Model 3 (Fremont, California)
- Honda Odyssey (Lincoln, Alabama)
- Honda Ridgeline (Lincoln, Alabama)
- Honda Passport (Lincoln, Alabama)
- Chevrolet Corvette (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
- Tesla Model X (Fremont, California)
- Chevrolet Colorado (Wentzville, Missouri)
