The News Wheel
No Comments

Ford Lands Four Vehicles in Top Ten of 2017 Made in America Auto Index

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

The 2017 Ford F-150 has a starting MSRP of less than $30,000

Every year since 2013, American University has released the Made in America Auto Index, which analyzes seven different criteria to determine “what percentage of your vehicle’s value contributes to the overall well-being of the US economy.” Four Ford vehicles ranked in the top 10, 11 ranked in the top 50, and a total of 15 vehicles made the list.


Need a Quick Quote? Black Book’s free credit score estimator tool will do the trick


The Ford F-150, America’s best-selling truck for 40 years running, ranked No. 2 overall with an American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) rating of 0.7 and a Total Domestic Content (TDC) rating of 85. The current-gen Expedition ranked No. 5 with an AALA rating of 0.62 and a TDC rating of 81; the Taurus ranked sixth with an AALA rating of 0.61 and an 80.5 TDC rating; and the Explorer rounded out the top 10 with a 0.56 AALA rating and a 78 TDC rating.

The Ford Focus, which Ford announced on Tuesday will be sourced primarily from China and Europe when production of the next-generation model begins in 2019, ranked 27th. The Focus RS, which presumably will continue to be built in Europe should it continue into the next generation, ranked 68th.

Several vehicles ranked 90th with a TDC rating of 1, but the lowest rated Ford was the Fiesta, ranked 71st with a TDC rating of 19.5 and an AALA rating of 0.07.


Looking for a Good Deal on a New Ford? See current sales and lease offers


The seven criteria used to determine a vehicle’s Made in America index score are:

  • Profit margin: based on the location of automaker’s headquarters
  • Labor: based on country of assembly
  • Research and Development: based on R&D location
  • Inventory, Capital, and other expenses: based on country of assembly
  • Engine: based on country of engine assembly
  • Transmission: based on country of transmission production
  • Body, Chassis, and Electrical Components: half of the vehicle’s AALA percentage

More information on the 2017 Made in America Auto Index can be read at http://www.american.edu/kogod/research/autoindex/index.cfm.