Drive around much and you’re sure to see what I see – a plethora of pickup trucks and seemingly foreign-made vehicles.
I say seemingly with good reason.
A lot of those “foreign-made” new cars actually are American-made, according to KBB.com (Kelley Blue Book), albeit by U.S. operations of foreign automakers.
“You wouldn’t be shocked to find out that 6 of the 10 best-selling vehicles in the country are from foreign automakers,” says KBB.com in an introduction to an online article on the subject. “But you might be surprised to learn that all 10 are made in America, as German, Japanese and Korean automakers continue to build more vehicles here.”
Acura, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen all are represented in the article, “10 Cars You Didn’t Know Were Made in America.”
Toyota, for example, has operations in six states, including Texas – San Antonio manufacture and assembly of the Tacoma and Tundra pickups. Other new car manufacturing facilities operated by the Japanese automaker are located in Kentucky (Georgetown), which produces the Camry, Hybrid Camry, Avalon and Venza, and Indiana, which makes the Sequoia, Sienna and Highlander.
Nissan North America’s Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi, facilities handle production of most of Nissan’s passenger sedans and SUV models, including the Altima and Maxima sedans and Nissan’s Truck and SUV lines, which include the Titan, Frontier, Armada and Xterra, according to CarsDirect.com. The Nissan Quest minivan also is manufactured in the Mississippi plant.
“Over half of [Nissan products] destined for the North American market are built right here in the United States,” says CarsDirect.com, a car-shopping website. “Given [recent] sales figures, if you drive a new Nissan, chances are your car was like built right here in the heart of America.”
Kinda gives you a whole different perspective on the subject, doesn’t it?
Following is KBB.com’s list of 10 made-in-the-USA new car standouts in alphabetical order and where they were manufactured:
- Acura ILX, Greensburg, IN
- BMW X-3, Spartanburg, SC
- Honda Accord, Marysville, OH
- Hyundai Sonata, Montgomery, AL
- Infiniti JX, Smyrna, TN
- Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Vance, AL
- Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, Normal, IL
- Nissan Altima, Smyrna, TN
- Toyota Camry, Georgetown, KY
- Volkswagen Passat, Chattanooga, TN.
The Camry, Accord and Altima are among the Top 10 vehicles in U.S. sales for 2013, while trucks – Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram pickup – are three of the Top 5 in U.S. vehicle sales.
So now you know.
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