Monday, January 26, 2009

My Toyota is more "American" than your Ford?

I was raised to "buy American." (I'm from Arkansas, so when I say it, its "Uh-mare-i-can" but....) Chevy trucks, Levi jeans, McDonald's burgers. No Honda's in our driveway!

Except now, in the modern global economy, deciding what is American and what isn't has gotten harder. Much harder.

Case in point - my current car - a Toyota Sequoia vs. my previous car, a Ford Expedtion.

Most people would say Ford is the American car, Toyota isn't. You would be wrong. Sort of. Maybe.

According to the NHTSA (in this report), my Sequoia is 80% of the "content" was made in the US/Canada and it is assembled in the US/Canada (According to AOL, they are assembled in Princeton, Indiana). My Expo was made in the US, too, but with only 70% of the content from the US.

So is my Toyota more American because of its content? Or less because of the HQ? Interesting questions!

A great article in the WSJ goes into some detail on this topic...

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