Every year, Cars.com releases a study on the most and least American-made vehicles on sale. This year’s top three include the Tesla Model 3 at number 1, the Ford Mustang at number 2, and the Tesla Model Y at number 3. iSeeCars, a Massachusetts-based auto research firm followed the Cars.com report with data of their own, but this time the results are broken down by state. The iSeeCars study looked at the states whose residents bought the largest number of vehicles from an American brand, and the results are pretty much in line with what most would expect.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see that Michigan topped the list of states with the most American vehicles. The state is home to Detroit and is the spiritual epicenter of the auto industry for anyone who loves American cars. Rounding out the top ten states, we see:
1.Michigan
2.South Dakota
3.North Dakota
4.Wyoming
5.Montana
6.Iowa
7.Wisconsin
8.Indiana
9.Idaho
10.Oklahoma
No. 6 – Hawaii
Photo by Dallas and John Heaton/Getty Images
On the other end of the spectrum, the states whose residents buy the least American vehicles are:
40. Washington
41. Oregon
42. Nevada
43. Virginia
44. Florida
45. Maryland
46. Massachusetts
47. New Jersey
48. Connecticut
49. California
50. Hawaii
The study was conducted using 4.4 million cars that were sold between January 1 and June 12, 2021. The vehicles analyzed were from model years between 2016 and 2020, and were judged based on their brand names. American brands such as Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Jeep, Lincoln, Ram, and Tesla were used.
It’s important to remember, however, that it’s not always easy or accurate to judge automakers on their brand names. Most have significant manufacturing presences in the United States, blurring the line between what is, and isn’t, American-made. That means that, even though many of these states have a large portion of residents driving American-branded cars, there may be a foreign brand vehicle in the same driveway with more American-made parts.
