Ford is calling itself the “most American of all car companies,” claiming the title based on S&P Global Mobility data on the number of vehicles assembled in the US, hourly autoworkers employed in the US, and vehicles exported from the US to other countries. Ford said it is the fifth year in a row it has claimed this title.
In a press release highlighting the accomplishment, Ford says it built more than 1.8 million vehicles in the US in 2022, explaining this figure was 130,000 units more than “the nearest auto manufacturer,” without naming who that was. Ford claimed at the same time it sells 80% of the vehicles it builds in the US in the US marketplace, with around 260,000 vehicles to other markets, a number it said is 65,000 more than the next closest competitor, again without mentioning a name.
Given its high volume production in the US, it stands to reason that Ford would also have a large American workforce. According to the Detroit-based automaker, they have around 57,000 “hourly manufacturing workers” across the country, more than any other competitor. Ford says it also plans to add more than 18,000 additional jobs over the next three years to produce electric and gas powered vehicles.
While this data from S&P Global might show Ford assembled the most vehicles in the US last year, it is a slightly different angle than the analysis performed by Cars.com. Their American-made Index takes into account many of the same factors, but also look at assembly location, parts content, engine origins, transmission origins and U.S. manufacturing workforce. When viewed with that lens Tesla comes out on top, and Ford isn’t anywhere close behind.
In that analysis the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 were the most American cars (Model X and Model S were 5th and 6th respectively) in 2022. The highest ranked Ford is the Ranger, all the way down in 17th place. There is also the Lincoln Corsair (Lincoln is Ford’s luxury brand), which came in third place, but only around 27,000 units sold in 2022.
According to Cars.com Tesla is also the only major automaker to claim 100% domestic production for all cars it sells in the US, well above the industry average of around 52%.
