“For shoppers, for consumers, they tend to focus on car prices, sales figures and the opening and closing of plants,” said Cars.com Editor-in-Chief Jenni Newman at an Automotive Press Association Briefing last week where AutoInformed was a participant. (Disclosure Ken Zino was a founding member and the first president of APA. One giant caveat here: The Window sticker that says “country of origin” is not a percentage of where the ~15,000 pieces in a vehicle were built. The so-called American Labelling Act that NHTSA generates from maker’s data is not an accurate representation of American-made parts.) “But what the general public doesn’t think about is just how many American workers are supported by the automotive industry. More than 5.4 million jobs are created by this industry in manufacturing. Still, there are other areas that fit that are often overlooked. Repair shops, auto parts stores, wholesalers, gas stations and eventually charging stations. So why is this? To consumers, well, shoppers, they want to buy American made products – and that includes cars. A Cars.com survey found more than half of in market car shoppers are willing to pay more for people, if it creates more U.S. jobs. The question is how much more are they willing to pay? And I’m happy to tell you that the answer is a lot more. Car shoppers cars.com surveyed said 56% are willing to pay more for a vehicle if it creates more U.S. jobs. Of those, 58% say they’re willing to pay an additional 10% considering the overall expense of vehicles. Consumers desire to support jobs in the US is something that automakers and dealers should be more aware of,” said Newman.
Surprising Shifts in the 2024 American-Made Index