The Most American Pickup Truck Hails From Ohio
Pickup trucks are as American as baseball and apple pie. It’s a market segment Detroit has dominated for decades. What’s more, trucks are a staple of everyday life in most parts of the US of A. So which truck is the most “American?” Analysts and drivers agree: there’s only one possibility.
While some of the Detroit Three have moved assembly offshore, the most “American-made” pickup truck is from a familiar domestic model. What’s more, consumers have named this the most patriotic automotive brand in the country.
The Surprising Truth About “American-Made” Pickup Trucks
Many foreign automakers have discovered that they can get around tariffs by assembling their U.S. market vehicles in the U.S.A. In fact, Toyota’s largest plant on the planet assembles the Camry in Kentucky. Some of the pickup trucks wearing a Japanese badge are actually American-made.
Honda’s compact Ridgeline hails from Lincoln, Alabama. In the latest cars.com “American made” ranking, it earned fifth place, and second among pickup trucks. American University maintains its own “American made” index. It specifies that 75% of the parts in the AWD Ridgeline TrailSport were made in the U.S. or Canada. Because Honda’s headquartered abroad, American University gave the Ridgeline 10th place overall.
The 2026 Toyota Tundra earned #19 in cars.com’s 2025 rankings and third place among trucks. Because just 55% of its components come from the U.S./Canada, American University ranked it #32 overall.
As recently as 2022, the Honda Ridgeline earned cars.com’s first-place American-made pickup truck ranking. And that was with just 70% U.S./Canadian parts. In the years since, one truck has stolen the Ridgeline’s crown.
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Some Detroit-based automakers actually assemble certain trucks overseas. For example, the Ford Maverick is exclusively made in Mexico. It didn’t even rank on cars.com’s list of the top 100 most American-made vehicles. American University admitted that Ford makes 27% of the Maverick’s components in the U.S./Canada, then ships them to Mexico for assembly. Because Ford is headquartered in the U.S., a fair amount of the Maverick’s MSRP does go towards marketing and R&D in the U.S. So AU awarded the truck 51st place in its index.
With other trucks, specific configurations are more American made than others. For example, Ford assembles its F-150 in its Kansas City plant or Dearborn, Michigan. But the automaker builds all its 5.0-liter V8 engines across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. The F-150 earned #28 in the cars.com American made index.
One vehicle segment that never appears on these indexes is heavy-duty pickup trucks. That’s because automakers don’t legally need to disclose what percentage of a heavy-duty truck’s components come from the U.S./Canada on its window sticker. It’s difficult to tell how American-made vehicles such as the Silverado 2500 HD or the Ford Super Duty actually are. But we do know that Ram assembles 100% of its heavy-duty pickup trucks (2500 series and higher) in Saltillo, Mexico.
In cars.com’s 2025 ranking, the 2026 Jeep Gladiator pickup truck earned third place. Only the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y ranked higher, and it beat out every other truck.
Jeep assembles every Gladiator alongside the Wrangler in Toledo, Ohio. In total, 74% of its components hail from the U.S. or Canada. Another 15% of the average Gladiator’s components come from Mexico. In the American University rankings, it does lose half a point because Jeep’s parent company—Stellantis—is headquartered in Amsterdam. But AU still ranked the Gladiator fourth overall, beating out Tesla’s Model X and even the Wrangler.
That said, American University disagreed on the most “American-made” truck. It gave that distinction to the Tesla Cybertruck, which can only claim that 65% of its components are from the U.S. or Canada, but is built by a company headquartered in the U.S. Twenty-five percent of the Cybertruck’s components hail from Mexico. It tied with the Model S to earn AU’s third-place ranking.
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Jeep Is The Most Patriotic Auto Brand
The Brand Keys firm surveys 9,720 consumers annually to rank the most patriotic brands in the U.S. Jeep has won the #1 spot every year since the survey began in 2001.
That means that most consumers think Jeep represents the most patriotic automaker—narrowly beating out Ford and Harley-Davidson. But in addition, Jeep ranks as the most patriotic brand in any category. That means it wins against Levi Strauss, Coca-Cola, Disney, and Walmart.
After the 2026 rankings, Robert Passikoff, president and founder of Brand Keys, admitted, “No other brand has maintained this level of emotional resonance around a single, deeply held national value for a quarter century.”
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The Most American Pickup Trucks
According to cars.com’s 2025 rankings, many pickup trucks earn a place among the top 100 American-made vehicles. The Honda Ridgeline came in fifth place this year. The Toyota Tundra earned #19. The Hyundai Santa Cruz compact truck, which is assembled in Montgomery, Alabama, earned #24. The GMC Canyon, out of Wentzville, Missouri, landed in #25. The Ford F-150 got #28. The Ford Ranger, built in Wayne, Michigan, was not far behind at #29. The Chevrolet Colorado landed in #30. The Toyota Tundra’s hybrid trim landed at #49. The half-ton Ram 1500, from Sterling Heights, Michigan, took home #55. The Nissan Frontier, built in Canton, Mississippi, landed at #63. The GMC Sierra 1500, which is built in both Roanoke, Indiana and Silao, Mexico, was awarded #78. The Chevrolet Silverado, which might be built in Roanoke, Silao, or Oshawa, Canada, landed at #82.
Curious where your truck was assembled? You can simply check the first digit of your VIN. A “1,” “4,” or “5” means the vehicle was assembled in the U.S. A “2” stands for Canada. A “3” stands for Mexico.
Sources: Brand Keys, Cars.com, American University, and Jeep
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