Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles at the company's store in Colma, California, on Jan. 23. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTwo Tesla models topped an annual list of the most made-in-America vehicles — but a majority of the top 10 for the 2026 model year were Japanese-brand vehicles.Why it matters: The "buy American" movement has long been a rallying cry for automakers, policymakers and certain consumers — but it's not always easy to tell which vehicles were actually manufactured here.Driving the news: Tesla topped the Cars.com American-Made Index for the sixth straight year.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Tesla Model 3 ranked No. 1, followed by the Model Y in the second spot.Stellantis scored the No. 3 and No. 4 spots with the Jeep Gladiator and Jeep Grand Cherokee, respectively.The rest of the top 10 were Japanese brand vehicles: (in order) Honda Ridgeline, Honda Odyssey, Lexus TX, Honda Accord, Acura MDX and Honda Passport.The intrigue: After a year and a half of international trade tensions over President Trump's tariffs, this year's top 10 had "the highest average domestic parts content percentage since the AMI methodology changed to its current form in 2020," according to Cars.com.The proprietary index considers numerous factors, including the share of parts made domestically, the source of the engine, the location of final assembly and the size of the automaker's U.S. workforce.Reality check: Every single vehicle sold in the U.S. gets at least 25% of its parts from outside the U.S. and Canada, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.That includes dozens of models that get 0% of their parts domestically.Built for media and marketing leaders. Sign up for Axios Media Trends free at Axios.com.
