Just this week, Tesla boasted as anxieties swirled over tariffs on automobiles.
“Btw, Teslas are the most American-made cars,” the official Tesla account posted on X on Sunday.
That’s true, at least according to one measure. The company has dominated Car.com’s American-Made Index since 2021, based on criteria including assembly location, where the parts are made, engine origin, transmission origin and US manufacturing workforce.
At close: March 28 at 4:00:00 PM EDT
“Tesla’s manufacturing, both as location of final assembly and the componentry of the vehicles, is all as high (a score on the index) as you could possibly get for a US-made vehicle,” Patrick Masterson, lead researcher for the Cars.com index, told CNN.
Tesla’s American-produced cars could partially protect the company from the new auto tariffs, which industry experts say will raise car prices for consumers by the thousands. The 25% tariffs, which were announced Wednesday, will affect all imported cars and car parts beginning April 3. Analysts maintain that the EV maker will be largely shielded, unlike other American automakers like General Motors, which has factories in Mexico.
But car manufacturing “is a complicated process, and no one’s going to be immune from these tariffs,” Masterson said. Even US-made cars depend on parts from Mexico and Canada, thanks to free trade agreements.
Although Tesla produces 100% of its vehicles in the United States at its Texas and California factories, there is truly no 100% “American-made” car — as Musk himself contended Wednesday after the tariffs announcement.
“Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here,” Musk posted on X. “The tariff impact on Tesla is still significant.”
Tesla hasn’t publicly said how much its cars depend on international parts. An October 2024 document from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 20% to 25% of components for all Tesla cars were imported, though it did not specify from which countries. Between 60% to 75% of components were made in the US or Canada, according to the document.
Cars.com didn’t have data on where specific components are made, but Masterson said Tesla’s “final assembly, engine country of origin, the battery country of origin” are all based in the United States.
And for now at least, car parts made in the US or Canada are grouped together, as part of the American Automobile Labeling Act, even though Trump’s tariffs target Canada as well.
“Tesla in particular is known to source a greater proportion of components installed on its US-built vehicles in comparison to other automakers (both foreign and domestic) producing vehicles in the U.S.,” analysts at JP Morgan said in a note, which pointed out that Tesla and fellow EV maker Rivian would be the least impacted among carmakers.
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