How a lot would a 100% ‘Made in america’ car value? It’s sophisticated

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A white 2025 Ford Expedition SUV with bronze external trim rolls off the meeting line at Ford Motor‘s Kentucky Truck Plant. It used to be assembled — from its body to of entirety — via American staff on the manufacturing unit. But it is a ways from being utterly “Made in the USA.”

A majority of its primary portions — a minimum of 58% as mentioned on a window decal — have been made out of doors of the rustic, together with 22% from Mexico. That contains its Ford-engineered, 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 Ecoboost engine, the guts of the car.

The common massive SUV is a primary instance of the way sophisticated the worldwide automobile provide chain is, and underscores the truth that even automobiles rolling off U.S. meeting traces from quintessentially American corporations comparable to Ford can depend closely on non-domestic content material.

The huge Kentucky meeting plant that has greater than 9,000 other people construction the Expedition, F-Series pickup vehicles and Lincoln Navigator SUV is precisely the type of facility President Donald Trump is pressuring automakers to construct within the U.S. via his use of competitive price lists.

After Trump put 25% price lists on imported automobiles and lots of automobile portions, automakers began scrambling to tout U.S. investments and localize provide chains up to imaginable. But whilst the rustic would get pleasure from jobs and financial output if all auto portions have been sourced and manufactured within the U.S., mavens say it is simply now not possible.

“Some parts that have been offshored will still be cheaper to manufacture in those locations rather than the USA at scale even with some of the imposed tariffs,” mentioned Martin French, an established provider government and spouse at Berylls Strategy Advisors USA.

Processing and manufacturing crops for issues comparable to metal, aluminum and semiconductor chips, particularly older ones used for automobiles, in addition to uncooked fabrics like platinum and palladium, don’t seem to be prevalent sufficient within the U.S. with out organising new crops or mines. Those are processes mavens say would take a decade or extra to create in scale.

On best of that, the higher prices of a 100% U.S.-made car may value many patrons out of the brand new car marketplace. That may in flip result in much less call for and most likely decrease manufacturing.

“We can move everything to the U.S., but if every Ford is $50,000, we’re not going to win as a company,” Ford CEO Jim Farley mentioned remaining week on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “That’s a balancing act that every [automaker] will have to do, even the most American company.”

Farley mentioned 15% to 20% of commoditized car portions are tricky, if now not inconceivable, to these days supply within the U.S. That contains issues comparable to small fasteners, labor-intensive wiring harnesses and virtually $5,000 in semiconductors in step with car, which can be these days sourced in large part from Asia.

S&P Global Mobility stories there are on reasonable 20,000 portions in a car when it is torn right down to its nuts and bolts. Parts would possibly originate in anyplace from 50 to 120 international locations.

For instance, the Ford F-150, which stocks a platform and a few portions with the Expedition, is completely assembled within the U.S. however has kind of 2,700 primary billable portions, which exclude many small items, in line with Caresoft, an engineering benchmarking and consulting company.

The Trump management may ease upper costs for an American-made car via providing tax breaks or client incentives, similar to the as much as $7,500 electrical car credit score Trump in the past promised to do away with.

But the prices of a 100% American-made car are a ways larger and extra complicated than they could appear to start with blush. It’s even exhausting to trace what comes from the U.S., as automakers are required to record a mixed share of Canadian and U.S. content material in a car, now not simply U.S. content material.

The subject matter prices by myself, apart from production investments, would upload hundreds of bucks to a car’s value level, which might wipe out earnings for automakers and drive value will increase for shoppers, a handful of automobile analysts and managers advised CNBC.

The other people, who got anonymity to talk freely, estimated it could upload hundreds of bucks with each and every step you took to get nearer to 100% U.S. and Canadian portions.

Think of Ferrari: Every vehicle from the long-lasting automaker comes from Italy, with as many elements as imaginable sourced from the corporate’s fatherland.

But even Ferrari’s multimillion-dollar sports activities vehicles have portions or uncooked fabrics for issues comparable to airbags, brakes, tires, batteries and extra that come from non-Italian providers and amenities.

“If you did it at really low volume and you’re extremely innovative and different with the vehicle, you could make $300,000-$400,000 vehicles that are all-American,” Wakefield mentioned. “To do it at scale, it would be 10-15 [years] and $100 billion to do that.”

Vehicles that meet the 75% U.S./Canada portions same old for the 2025 mannequin yr come with the Kia EV6, two variations of the Tesla Model 3 and the Honda Ridgeline AWD Trail Sport, in line with the most recent car content material information required via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nearly 20 others are at 70% or upper, whilst some automobiles nonetheless want to be added to the information.

That compares to 2007 model-year NHTSA information, the place the highest 16 automobiles — all from GM and Ford — had 90% or extra U.S. and Canadian content material. Ford’s Expedition at the moment used to be a number of the easiest at 95%, however that used to be prior to the expanded globalization of the automobile business provide chain after the Great Recession — and prior to a number of main technological advances in vehicles made new portions and fabrics extra necessary.

For a long time, there was a development for much less U.S./Canadian content material as a result of the globalization of provide chains and the rise in using Mexico as a supply of portions and elements, in line with American University’s Kogod School of Business.

Imported automobiles from many luxurious manufacturers, particularly German producers in addition to Toyota’s Lexus, function little U.S.-sourced content material. Many have none or 1%, in line with the federal information.

The U.S./Canada percentages, underneath the American Automobile Labeling Act of 1992, are calculated on a “carline” foundation somewhat than for each and every person car and could also be rounded to the closest 5%. They are calculated via automakers and reported to the federal government.

However, a top threshold of North American portions additionally doesn’t suggest the automobiles are produced within the U.S. The 2024 Toyota RAV4, for instance, used to be reported to have 70% U.S./Canadian portions and is inbuilt Canada.

“You could have a vehicle, theoretically, that is made in the U.S., but only has 1% parts, content,” mentioned Patrick Masterson, a lead researcher for Cars.com’s “American-Made Index.” 

Cars.com’s annual index of the highest U.S. automobiles takes car meeting, portions and different components into consideration. No automobiles from Ford or General Motors made the highest 10, whilst two Teslas, two Hondas and a Volkswagen took the highest 5 spots.

The learn about ranks 100 automobiles judged via the similar 5 standards it is used because the 2020 version: meeting location, portions content material, engine beginning, transmission beginning and U.S. production personnel. More than 400 automobiles of model-year 2024 antique have been analyzed to qualify the 100 automobiles at the checklist.

The white 2025 Ford Expedition that just lately rolled off the meeting line in Kentucky is predicted to attain upper than the prior mannequin yr, which ranked 78th, as a result of an building up in home content material.

Masterson mentioned there is been higher pastime and recognition for the “American-Made Index” this yr amid Trump’s tariff insurance policies and nationalism.

“Traffic on the ‘American-Made Index’ this year is way, way up. … People are concerned about this, perhaps more than ever,” Masterson mentioned, later including “it would be extremely difficult to make a 100% U.S.-made [vehicle].”