Summertime Makes Us All Feel A Little More Patriotic

With 3 major American Patriotic holidays all falling around the summer – Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day – summertime makes us all feel a little more patriotic.  So it seems like a great time to note that Americans are increasingly rediscovering the importance of buying local, or buying U.S.-made products. And for some households, that value system extends to their family vehicle.

One of the main reason why people buy American is the economic impact, of course we want to purchase something that helps our own economy. That’s where the so-called Made In America Index, from the Kogod School of Business at the American University, Washington, D.C., comes in.

The index looks at these items:
– Profit margin (depending on where the headquarters are located)
– Labor (assembly point), research and development
– Inventory, capital, and other expenses (location of assembly)
– Engine and transmission origin (location)
– Body, interior, chassis, electrical, and other (location)
– For the latter item, the index uses the current AALA percentage, although here it’s given a strong push up based on the assembly location, R&D activities, and parts and materials sourcing.

“The index reveals that vehicles produced by automakers whose headquarters are located in the U.S. rated higher in overall domestic content because the profit derived from the sale of these vehicles was more likely to return or remain in the U.S,” said the authors of a report explaining the methodology.

We do have to recognize that there is no 100% American model on the market; every vehicle has some foreign-made parts.  In fact, there are all sorts of variation. Some models have been engineered in the U.S. and have some home-grown parts but are assembled overseas, or in Mexico, while other models have final assembly in the U.S. but are made of a surprisingly high percentage of foreign parts.

We thought we’d share with you the top 15 vehicles for Total Domestic Content, with their AALA percentages in parenthesis:

Buick Enclave: 87.5 (75)
Chevrolet Traverse: 87.5 (75)
GMC Acadia: 87.5 (75)
Cadillac CTS Coupe 87.5 (75)
Chevrolet Colorado: 83 (66)
GMC Canyon: 83 (66)
Chevrolet Express 83 (80)
GMC Savana: 83 (80)
Ford Expedition: 82.5 (65)
Ford Explorer: 82.5 (65)
Ford F-150: 82.5 (65)
Ford Taurus: 82.5 (65)
Cadillac ATS: 82.5 (65)
Cadillac CTS Sedan: 82.5 (65)
Chevrolet Equinox: 82.5 (65)

Beach Auto Brokers has been in business since 1985, Driven by excellence and proudly serving the Hampton Roads community for over 25 years. The Beach Auto Brokers full inventory of vehicles is available for you to look at, test drive, and ask questions about.  And our knowledgeable staff is ready to help you.  And while you’re here, we’ll take a look at your current vehicle and tell you what its worth – on the retail market and the trade-in value.