When I was growing up, I grew up in an area where a Saginaw Steering Gear (Division of General Motors) plant was local. The theme around the city was to buy American Made Cars, GM being one of them. Those were the days when few people bought Toyota or Honda cars. Most people around there owned Chevy, Ford, Lincoln or Mercury.

Now in 2008, as the Big 3 head to propose a new bailout plan, it got me to thinking. A friend of mine who is a former mechanic made a comment to me a week ago.

“The big difference between domestic and foreign cars? Domestic cars are made in Mexico and Canada. Foreign cars are made in America.”

This made me stop and think for a minute. Huh? I thought it was reverse. Ok, now that his comment has sunk in, I happen to be reading an article that touched base on this.

Today, CNN published an article What makes a car American? on just this. In it, the article makes a point few of us fail to realize. By law, U.S. automakers are legally required to detail the origin of a car’s parts and its final assembly point.

A window sticker on a new Lincoln MKZ shows the vehicle’s multinational origins.

PARTS CONTENT INFORMATION
FOR VEHICLES IN THIS CARLINE
US/CANADIAN PARTS CONTENT: 35%
MAJOR SOURCES OF FOREIGN PARTS CONTENT: MEXICO 40%

NOTE: PART CONTENT DOES NOT INCLUDE FINAL ASSEMBLY, DISTRIBUTION OR OTHER NON-PARTS COSTS

FOR THIS VEHICLE
FINAL ASSEMBLY POINT
HERMOSILLO, MEXICO

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
ENGINE: US
TRANSMISSION: JAPAN

Here are some more statistics many people do not realize:

• The Ford Fusion is assembled in Mexico.
• The Chrysler 300C is assembled in Canada, but its transmission is from Indiana; the brand’s V-8 engine is made in Mexico.
• Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle The Engines in the are from China.
• Toyota’s Camry is comprised 80 percent of parts made in the United States, and 56 percent of Toyota’s vehicles sold in the U.S. also are made here.
• The Toyota Sienna and Tundra also have 80 percent of their parts manufactured in the U.S.

Now, all of this has me wondering about my car. Normally, I own foreign cars. I have had the best reliability with this. Toyota and Honda have always been my choices. This time around (after I fatefully hit a deer grrrr) I purchased a 2005 Lincoln LS. So far it has been great. But it has me wondering just where it is from. I guess I will have to pull out my sticker that was on the windshield and take a look!

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