Is the Chevrolet Cobalt American-made or not?
Now the internet world will be finding out what the folks in the Mahoning Valley have known for a long time, that the answer to the question is yes, the vast bulk of the Chevrolet Cobalt is American-made.
The General Motors Corp. Lordstown-built small car ranked fourth on the list released Friday by Cars.com among vehicles with the highest American content at 82 percent.
The study helps consumers identify the top ten vehicles which are truly the most American in terms of their parts (like for instance), where they are produced, and their popularity with U.S. buyers. The study is the third done by the Web site since June 2006.
Cars.com's American-Made Index highlights the cars that are built in the United States, have the highest amount of domestic parts, and are bought in the largest numbers by Americans. In order to make it to the list, cars must have a domestic-parts-content rating of 75 percent or more. Cars.com also used the figure alongside the window sticker of new cars to determine a car's domestic parts content. If a car is going to be discontinued in the near future, it was also disqualified.
GM grabbed four of the top five spots, with Ford and Toyota both taking three spots, the study showed.
Ford's F-150 pickup truck had the most American content at 90 percent. Japan's Toyota Camry (75 percent) and Camry Solara (80 percent) were No. 2.
The Camry had less U.S. content than the Cobalt but outranked the Cobalt in sales, 144,362 to 79,257, for the year through May. Camry sales don't include hybrid models.
Chevrolet's Silverado 1500 pickup truck, built at Fort Wayne, Ind., and Pontiac, Mich., ranked third with 90 percent U.S. content.
The F-150 and Silverado rankings are based on estimated sales and/or production data,Cars.com said. The top four placers all held the same positions in the December study.
The Ford Focus, which wasn't ranked in December, took fifth at 75 percent.
The next five were the Toyota Sienna, sixth; Chevrolet Malibu and Malibu Maxx, seventh; Pontiac G6, eighth; Ford Escape, ninth, and Toyota Tundra, 10th.
The ranking wasn't a surprise to Lordstown spokesman Tom Mock, as according to him, it just highlights the importance of the complex and the entire U.S. auto industry.
''We think it's important not just for manufacturers of vehicles but for manufacturers of parts, too,'' he said. ''For every job at Lordstown, 7.1 jobs are created in other industries, most of those in parts-related industries.''
The Lordstown complex employs 5,000 hourly and salaried workers at the assembly and metal stamping plants, as well as nearby suppliers such as Intier and Lear.
