Chrissie Thompson
Automotive News
July 6, 2009 - 12:01 am ET

The most "American'' car is the Toyota Camry, according to a study by
Cars.com.

The Camry topped the Ford F-150 pickup to place first in the auto
information site's annual American-Made Index.

The index, in its fourth year, ranks U.S.-assembled vehicles using a formula
that includes the percentage, by cost, of their parts made in the United
States and Canada as well as their U.S. sales volume.

The F-150, the perennial best-selling vehicle in the United States, had
topped the three previous studies before dropping to second this year. The
Camry, the top-selling car, has not been eligible since 2006 because its
Solara version had less than 75 percent of its parts made in the United
States and Canada. The 75 percent threshold is a requirement for inclusion
in the index.

The index's top-10 list had only five Detroit 3 vehicles, a record low. In
addition to the F-150, they were the Chevrolet Malibu (3rd), the Chevrolet
Silverado 1500 (5th), the GMC Sierra 1500 (8th) and the Ford Taurus (9th).

Ninety percent of Taurus parts are made in the United States or Canada, the
most of any 2009 model eligible for the list.

Four other vehicles of Japanese origin -- the Honda Odyssey (4th), Toyota
Sienna (6th), Toyota Tundra (7th) and Toyota Venza (10th) -- completed the
list. The Sienna's 85 percent of parts made in the United States or Canada
is the highest of any foreign-brand vehicle.

Dropouts

Last year's top 10 had six models from the Detroit 3. The Chevrolet Cobalt,
Pontiac G6, Chrysler Sebring and the Ford Explorer /Sport Trac fell from the
list this year. The G6 dropped off because the Pontiac brand is being
eliminated, and the index excludes models scheduled to be discontinued
without a clear successor.

The Cobalt, last year's runner-up, saw its domestic parts content decline
from 80 percent with the 2008 model to 71 percent with the 2009 version,
according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

The formula factors sales performance because if a U.S.-made vehicle's sales
increase, then more Americans will have jobs, said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com's
editor in chief.

But how much do consumers care about a car's origin? In a recent Cars.com
survey, 23 percent of respondents said they wanted to buy only American-made
cars, Olsen said, while about 10 percent wanted to buy only foreign-made
vehicles.

"That means basically two-thirds of the people are saying, 'I'll buy
whatever car is best and most reliable,' " he said. "It's a big open pool of
potential customers."