Jump LinksTop 5 Most American Cars (After the Kia EV6)Top 10 Automakers By US Final Assembly Percentage In 2025Buying American has become a big talking point during President Trump's presidency. Whether you agree with these tariffs or not, it's worth knowing that the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) exists. The AALA studied the percentage of American parts used to build a car, and found that the Kia EV6 is the most American car you can buy. We take a look at the AALA, and what it does, before looking at the Kia EV6, and then the production makeup of the industry as a whole. What Is The AALA? Kia/FacebookThe American Automobile Labeling Act was introduced in 1992 in an effort to bring transparency to the car-buying process by attaching a label to the chosen automobile that lets the buyer know where the vehicle is assembled, who assembles it, and where most of the individual parts are created. The bipartisan support behind the bill felt it would give the necessary tools to allow consumers to better understand what type of vehicle they were buying (and likely help spur more purchases of American products).This information is displayed on a vehicle’s Monroney sticker – the same label that shows the MSRP, fuel economy, and safety ratings - and it is broken up as such: The percentage of US/Canadian parts content (rounded to the nearest 5%) Any other country contributing 15% or more of the total parts value The final assembly point (city, state, country) The country of origin for the engine and transmission A disclaimer that final assembly and non-parts costs aren’t included in parts content calculations The AALA also delivers a yearly report of all of this compiled information going back to 2007, but it's important to note that the AALA report consists of car lines instead of just model and trim. This means a vehicle like the Honda CR-V FWD can be listed multiple times, likely due to certain vehicles being produced on lines in more than one factory.However, it does easily break down which vehicles host the most North American-made parts, and the Kia EV6 coming in first place wasn't on our bingo card. Kia EV6: The Most American Car Of 2025KiaYes, going by assembly and parts, the Kia EV6 is likely the most patriotic vehicle there is, as 80% of its parts come from North America, and the rest come from Korea. The list doesn't break down battery or electric motors like it does transmissions and engines. However, the company does now source its batteries from SK On, which built a factory in Georgia strictly for the task.Then there's the whole issue of production, and here, Kia has had some incredible foresight. Thanks to incentives like the EV Tax Credit, billions of dollars of investment have been poured into the US economy by foreign companies looking to build up their production capabilities. Kia is no different, and it invested in expanding production at its West Point, Georgia plant for the EV9, and, you guessed it, EV6.KiaThis coincides with the EV's first big facelift, which sees the model receive a host of upgrades for 2025. It now uses two new, larger battery packs which the company hopes will help RWD models achieve about 320 miles of range. Power is the same across the lineup, except on the GT, which now packs up to 641 horses and 569 lb-ft of torque when N-Grin Boost mode is engaged. The model also sports new exterior looks that are a big improvement. In our opinion, a new steering wheel, faster software, and a new NACS charging port.These tweaks should help to keep this model at the front of the pack, despite everything that's going on. US manufacturing also gives it a massive leg up, but it's not going to get away completely free. While its parts content is better than anywhere else, this is North American content, not just American, and it's impossible for us to know how much of the car comes from Canada (though we doubt it's significant). It's also important to know the GT model is still made in South Korea, so that model will be much harder hit compared to the rest of the lineup.It's a complicated situation, one that the EV6 is poised well to handle, but it's not the only vehicle with some tariff resistance. The Next Most American Cars (That You Probably Didn’t Expect Either) HondaIt shouldn't be surprising that the EV6 isn't alone in having a high North American parts content; We've only been building cars here for over a century. However, the cars that make this list are surprising, because there are no legacy American automakers high up on this list with the following five being as follows: Top 5 Most American Cars (After the Kia EV6) If you're wondering why it isn't a top 10 list, it's because the next five vehicles are all Hondas and Acuras. Then there are some more Teslas, a few Toyotas, some Hyundais, Nissans, Volkswagens, and Mazdas, and then finally, about 50 cars down the list, you hit the first of the Big Three, with the Ford Ranger coming in with 46% North American parts.TeslaWhat this means is up to you, but there's no denying it's surprising to see quite a few foreign automakers with more American-made and American-sourced vehicles than our stalwart giants. However, Tesla is high on the list, showing that an American born-and-bred Automaker can still make, source, and sell vehicles here without them being exorbitantly expensive. It also highlights another important metric that the AALA tracks: which automaker makes the most vehicles in the US. Who Actually Builds the Most Cars in the U.S.? FordMany American buyers have been taught from a young age that buying domestic is good and buying foreign is bad, regardless of the quality of the products or differences in price. For a long time, this was easy. Just stroll down to your local Ford or Chevy dealer, and they'll have a wide variety of domestic products to choose from. But over the past three decades, that number has shrunk, making the proposition of buying domestic a complicated one in 2025.If your goal is to support an American company, then by all means, go check out that Lincoln Nautilus or Buck Envista, but just know the first is currently produced in China, and the latter is made in South Korea. The Honda Civic is more American than either of those cars, with decades-old manufacturing facilities that have been employing Americans for generations, but just because it doesn't have the right name, many won't consider it, despite Honda making a higher percentage of its vehicles here than nearly anyone else: Top 10 Automakers By US Final Assembly Percentage In 2025TeslaThese AALA rankings reflect final assembly location only, and keep in mind these are carlines, not models. Also worth noting, while the AALA report is comprehensive, it doesn’t include every automaker. Companies like Lucid and Rivian, both of which assemble all of their cars in the US, were not included, and would be right next to Tesla on this list.However, the AALA rankings highlight a reality that many car buyers still don’t fully realize: a vehicle can be built in America, by American workers, with American parts, yet still come from a foreign-owned company. These companies employ tens of thousands of American workers, support local suppliers, and contribute billions to the US economy each year.All this is to say, is that buying "American" isn't as obvious as it used to be, and, depending on where your values lie, could take you back behind the wheel of a new F-150, or into the comfortable seat of a new EV6.
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