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Made in America | These cars top the most-American list

The car with the most American/Canadian content for 2022 is ... cue the drumroll ... the Lincoln Corsair, in both standard gasoline-fueled and plug-in hybrid guise. Both versions of Lincoln's compact luxury crossover earned a score of 86 — due to 72% of its parts coming from one of the two aforementioned countries — in the American University Kogod Business School's annual "Made in America Auto Index." Last year's leader, the 2021 Ford Mustang GT (when equipped with a manual transmission) fell all the way to 22nd place with a 50% rating due to a switch in transmissions sourced from Mexico. In case you're interested, that puts Ford's red-blooded American ponycar below vehicles like the Kia Sorento, Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class SUV and Lexus ES. If you're wondering how an American car that's assembled within the borders of the United States could rank below a model from a Korean, German or Japanese automaker, well, we'll let Kogod explain: "The components of the index are based on research performed by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor Michigan regarding the economic value of different components of auto manufacturing. For example, the highest ranked cars are made by U.S.-based manufacturers using American engines and transmissions, and with a high AALA percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts." There are 25 total vehicles listed in the Top 10 (there are lots of ties this year). Here's the full list: (1) Lincoln Corsair: 86 (1) Lincoln Corsair PHEV: 86 (2) Tesla Model 3 Long Range: 82.5 (3) Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray: 81 (4) Chevrolet Colorado: 80.5 (5) Jeep Cherokee Latitude 4x4: 80 (5) Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk: 80 (5) Tesla Model 3 Performance: 80 (5) Tesla Model Y: 80 (6) Dodge Durango Citadel: 79.5 (6) Dodge Durango Blacktop AWD: 79.5 (7) Honda Passport Trailsport: 78.5 (8) Ford F-150 2.7L, 3.3L, 5.0L: 77.5 (8) Ford Ranger: 77.5 (8) Ford Bronco automatic: 77.5 (8) Tesla Model S: 77.5 (8) Tesla Model X: 77.5 (9) Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 3.6L: 77 (9) Jeep Grand Cherokee L LTD: 77 (9) Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 3.6L: 77 (9) Chevrolet Camaro automatic: 77 (10) Honda Odyssey: 76 (10) Honda Ridgeline: 76 (10) Honda Pilot: 76 There's a whole long list of reasons for the above scores, with seven criteria that include factory location, headquarters location and where its various bits and pieces come from.

GM cutting vehicle trim options to save money for electrification

Information continues to filter out about GM's plans based on comments the automaker made during its Capital Markets Day event in February. GM President Mark Reuss said the company's push to save money by rationalizing the number of build combinations will continue in 2020, carrying on the work done in 2019. As GM Authority covers, last year, the carmaker cut 3,500 components across model lines, a 12% drop in the number of parts it needed to stock in its plants. Reuss used the next-generation Chevolet Equinox and GMC Terrain as examples for more cost efficiencies, saying build possibilities — which include international markets and their options — will be cut by more than 50%, and use more shared parts. "We will reduce total trim levels on Equinox and Terrain from eight to six," Reuss said, "reduce engine variants from 11 to 5, reduce build combinations from more than 200 to less than 100 per program, and see significant cost savings of an already paid-for architecture that took the mass out, helping us self-fund electrification programs." GM will plow a large amount of the money it saves into its ambitious EV program. In 2017, the automaker said it intends to have 20 electric vehicles on the market by the end of 2023, some of which could be shared between brands. An automotive analyst at Seeking Alpha and a piece in Automobile attempted to put specifics to what we should expect. As Automobile points out, the first two EVs in the 20-car program are already on sale, being the Ariv Meld and Ariv Merge eBikes available in Belgium and The Netherlands. We've seen the Cruise Origin autonomous rideshare taxi, although we don't know when it will hit the road. The next three, which we should see in the metal shortly, are two Cadillac EVs and the GMC Hummer EV pickup. The Cadillac pair are expected to be sized like the XT4 and XT5, and along with the Hummer, should hit the market starting in late 2021.

How real is the Chevy Bolt EV and will it really cost $30,000?

"This is us bragging that we can do this kind of car." That's how Michael Simcoe, GM's executive director for NA exteriors, described the Chevy Bolt EV concept, which made a surprise appearance at the Detroit Auto Show today. While there was talk of a 2017 production debut, this is for sure a concept vehicle. But that means the ideas behind the vehicle are perhaps more important than the details. For example, no one is talking about what size battery might appear in a production Bolt, but Simcoe would talk about how rapid progress in battery improvements made it possible for GM to make the bold Bolt declaration that promises 200 miles and a price tag of around $30,000 (after incentives). But if the Bolt makes it to market, it won't be until 2017 (as rumored) or later, is it really fair to promote the car as being available with a federal tax credit? For one thing, credits for plug-in vehicles may change in the next few years, but if the laws stay the same, each manufacturer is limited to 200,000 vehicles before the credits start to decline. GM is justifiably proud that it's sold over 70,000 Volts thus far, but with a new model coming out later this year and a few years to go until the Bolt potentially arrives, GM could be pushing right up against that 200,000 limit when the Bolt goes on sale. But Volt executive chief engineer Pam Fletcher told AutoblogGreen that, "We're just trying to take some of the confusion out." "Think about talking to the average consumer," she said. "First, going through the explanation of how the federal tax credit was set up, how it's being used and so on. [In the industry, we] have the luxury of understanding the nuances of that regulation, but right now people who aren't in the marketplace, they don't have the luxury of all that. It's already hard to communicate the details so we gave them data in a way that is what they're used to seeing." There was one question that drove the two-year Bolt gestation and design period, Simcoe said: What does a better battery offer a vehicle designer? "We've got a number of spaces we play in for powertrain technology and obviously electrification is one of them," he said. "With Volt 1 and then the Spark EV, with that development and batteries getting better for us, we started doing some practical packaging to deliver a vehicle which was not the traditional aero form which you see around electric vehicles.