Here's What It Takes to Be American Made

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

What does it mean for a car to be American made?


We chat with Patrick Masterson from Cars.com about the company's 2024 American Made Index, digging deep into the data and the methodology used to compile the report. It's an educational look into how cars are built in this complex, globalized world.

TTAC contributor Matthew Guy and discuss why you need a ratcheting wrench and which ones to buy, and then we go over the wet-weather madness that NASCAR experienced in New Hampshire, and we also discuss some off-track stories, such as Kyle Busch running his mouth about his future.

Click here to find us -- we're available wherever you get your podcasts. As always, thanks for listening!

[Image: Tesla/TTAC.com/VerticalScope]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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5 of 34 comments
  • ToolGuy™ ToolGuy™ on Jun 28, 2024
    You think I am stupid enough to comment without listening to the podcast first? First, I will listen to the podcast in its entirety -- that is how stupid I am.
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jun 28, 2024
      Gotta work on that passive aggressiveness. Did it come up in performance reviews?
  • Akear Akear on Jun 29, 2024
    Lets be honest the US manufacturing economy is becoming a nightmare. I hear John Deer is moving more manufacturing to Mexico. "When does a dream become a nightmare" - Alice Cooper 75
    • See 1 previous
    • El scotto El scotto on Jul 01, 2024
      Sir, lots of MBAs in the 1980 said "We'll outsource to China and make so much money!" 2020 the MBAs said "What do you mean China is welding factory workers into their apartments? We need cheap stuff in containers coming off boats!" "Oh wait! the Mexicans can DRIVE a container of cheap stuff to the US border!" "Oh snap, this will take five to ten years to completely insource and take some cash. It's OK we have a trade deal!" "When do I get my management bonus?" Oh, don't forget our polite neighbors to the North, they do some great high-skilled value added work.
  • Jalop1991 LOTSA plastic bits inside the engine bay of a hot-V turbo German car. Heat is the enemy of plastic. But ze Germans don't care, that's the owner's problem.
  • ACB Just the John DeLorean connection, stainless steel body and gullwing doors mean it would anyway appear in lists and footnotes but the notoriety from the financial and cocaine trafficking scandals would probably have become the dominant theme.
  • The Oracle Old Man Ford is now rolling more slowly in his tomb.
  • KOKing One thing Mercedes needs to go back to MB-Tex and see what they can make out of whatever that was since that stuff is pretty indestructible. I've seen plenty of old MBs at salvage yards where the rest of the car is far gone but the MB-Tex stuff still feels new.
  • Slavuta Today: "Mercedes-Benz has released technical details for the 2026 CLA 220 hybrid sedan, highlighting its collaboration with Geely on the 1.5-litre M252 turbocharged inline-four engine, which is manufactured in China, according to IT-home."
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