Some of the models produced by German automakers in the U.S. have no U.S. content at all in terms of value added. The new US president donald trump is not likely to like this at all. But American automakers also have a surprisingly low U.S. content.
The new U.S. model VW atlas is coming in 2018: most models from German manufacturers have only a small share of U.S. value added, according to a survey by the U.S. NHTSA.
The latest analysis by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of car models sold in the U.S. in 2016 is astonishing. According to a report in the online edition of auto motor und sport magazine, there is no car made entirely of american parts. Given the division of labor in the auto industry, this is not surprising.
U.S. manufacturers rely on foreign suppliers
This is partly because automotive suppliers such as bosch, continental, schaeffler and ZF produce components such as transmissions, brakes, control electronics and entire systems that the manufacturers cannot do without. bosch has just unveiled an entertainment system at CES that uses holography and 3D technology and is controlled contact-free by hand.
One of the major suppliers is the Japanese airbag manufacturer takata, whose faulty airbags have led to worldwide recalls, for example at Daimler and BMW, but also at many American manufacturers.
Production of the toyota camry in the u.s.: it’s the car with the highest u.s. content.
Source: toyota USA
Due to the growing importance of IT, networking and electrification of the powertrain, manufacturers are being forced to buy in more and more from outside. Not a good outlook for U.S. automakers if U.S. president donald trump makes good on his threat to impose punitive tariffs on foreign products. The U.S. share in American cars is also surprisingly low in some cases, as shown by the NHTSA analysis available to auto motor und sport.
The most american car is a toyota
According to the authorities, the highest proportion of American value added is not generated by a U.S. model, but by a Japanese car, the toyota camry, which accounts for 75 percent of the total. The most American cars of all U.S. brands are the jeep wrangler and the dodge viper from the fiat chrysler group with 73 % each.
trump will not be satisfied with the U.S. share of the three best-selling cars in the U.S. The American bestseller Ford F-150 still has a US share of 70%. Number 2, the Chevrolet Silverado, is only 38% American, while the third best-selling ram pickup is 59% American.
Mercedes C-Class has highest US share
The highest U.S. share of a German car brand is offered by the mercedes C-Class with 72 %, followed by the mercedes GLE with 65 %. However, such a high U.S. share is the exception. All other German car models in the USA have only a small or no US share. The two mercedes models are followed by the VW passat with only 30 % US value added.
Job search for engineers
Smart for the police in new york: mercedes has very high production shares for individual models in the u.S.
Behind him, the Mexican-made VW beetle convertible (12%), VW jetta (11%) and VW beetle (10%) are the next best-selling cars. All other German models have a US share of less than 10%. audi models only account for 0 to 1% of US value added, while numerous mercedes models such as the B-Class, CLA, CLE, E-Class and S-Class, as well as all porsche models, have no US share.
Ford mustang is 52 % American
But the american carmakers don’t exactly shine with high US value creation either, as shown not only by the top 3 mentioned above. American cult cars also source a high proportion of their components and assemblies from abroad.
This even applies to the American dream car, the Ford Mustang. The comes to a US value added of 52. The corvette from chevrolet really shines there with 64. As a rule, the U.S. share of the American automakers fluctuates around 50%. With outliers on the downside: the chevrolet spark and buick envision have a U.S. share of only 2%.
Even with a cult car like the ford mustang, the US share is just about half.
Japanese manufacturers, who have large plants in the U.S. and are obviously much better at integrating American suppliers into their production chain, are doing much better. The U.S. share of the honda accord, for example, is 70%, while toyota’s carolla, sienna, tacoma and tundra have a share of 65%. Nissan, with its altima, murano and pathfinder models, has a 55 % share.
All automakers must report US content to NHTSA
And how does the NHTSA is so precise? Since 1994, car manufacturers in the U.S. have had to declare the share of U.S. value added in new cars. In the american automobile labeling act it has been stipulated that the place of final assembly and the origin of the engine and transmission must be stated for every new car. This information is documented with a sticker on the car. In addition, all data are listed in percent by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
And here you can read how ford halted its plans for a new plant in mexico after a threat from donald trump.