Stellantis Pulls Ads Touting American-Made Vehicles After Watchdog Complaints
Companies love to tout their American-made products, especially after President Trump and company’s recent tariff announcements. Stellantis, a company with brands that most probably assume are 100 percent American-made, recently ran into trouble with an ad campaign promoting its U.S. roots because of advertising rules stating that products wearing the “American-made” tag should “contain no – or negligibly – foreign content.”
The nonprofit Truth in Advertising, which monitors false and misleading claims, said Stellantis’ ads were misleading because its vehicles contain imported components. In a letter, the organization said that, “Stellantis has every right to boast of its brands’ assembly plants in the United States that create American jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy, but it cannot illegally embellish the amount of manufacturing that takes place domestically.”
Truth in Advertising’s website goes further, saying that Stellantis vehicles shown in the ads “are made with engine, motor, or transmission parts sourced from all over the world, from Mexico to Italy to the Philippines. The bottom line: The cars are not made or built in the USA but rather assembled in the USA using a significant amount of imported parts.”
Stellantis’ ad campaign started running last week, but the automaker pulled the ads to make modifications. All of this sounds dramatic, but the changes will likely be small and focus on the use of the words “build” and “built” to clarify the vehicles’ content.
[Images: Stellantis]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Hey! That thing got a Hemi? Why Yes Sir! Hecho en Mexico!
The Cummins 6.7 is made in USA but the Ram HD is Hecho en Mexico.
Ford on the other hand assembles HD'S in USA with diesels from Mexico and gassers from Canada.
GM on the other hand builds engines in USA and assembles in USA, Canada, and Mexico.