Name the American Truck: Chevy Silverado or Mazda B-Series

Silverado - it sure looks American!

Not long ago, we asked if Ford was a foreign car company.

We asked because so many American cars are built in Mexico, while Japanese cars are built in America, so we wondered what really constitutes a “domestic” automobile. The location of final assembly is only a piece of the puzzle - there’s also the whole question of where a car’s parts come from.

It sounds like a philosophical conundrum: If a car’s engine is built in Germany, its transmission comes from France, final assembly happens in the United States, and the corporate headquarters is in Japan, where is the car from?

Considering all this, I’m surprised to see the results of a poll in our original blog asking if car owners know where their car was built. With nearly 2,500 people answering, an overwhelming 81 percent said they do know where their cars were built.

I have to wonder, though, if some people just assume their Fusions or Silverados (or Escalades or Avalanches or HHRs or Sierras…the list goes on)  were built in America just because they believe all those American Heartland “Like a Rock” TV ads.

Heck, the Honda Odyssey is more “American” than the Dodge Grand Caravan, with its engine, transmission, and assembly all sourced from the United States.

That’s why I get infuriated when a staunchly anti-foreign Midwestern truck guy judges me for buying a Japanese SUV when he (unknowingly) owns a Chevy Silverado that was made in Mexico. I imagine that guy would be pretty peeved to hear that little nugget of information.

With pieces of cars literally coming from all over the world, I was excited to see this brilliant feature, put together by the New York Times, that lists every car that’s made in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

I’d be curious for the people who took our original survey to check out the Times’ feature and then answer our survey again.

Which do you think is more American: a Mazda built in America or a Silverado built in Mexico? If you want, go ahead and tell me what car you own, including the year, and I’ll tell you where it was built.

-tgriffith

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