“The heartbeat of America”. “This is our country”. “Rethink American”. All of these slogans are used by car companies to advertise their vehicles. When someone sees these commercials, they get a patriotic feeling in them and think; sure, I’m going to go buy this, I support my country. What a lot of people don’t know is that many of these “American” cars are made outside of America. Recently, GM (Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Saturn) have really increased the amount of patriotism that they are showing in their commercials. These appeal to people’s emotions because of job losses and a lot of other things. To be qualified as “Made in America”, 75% of the vehicles parts have to be made within our borders (The Boston Globe). According to this, the Chevrolet Suburban, a typical large family SUV for many generations, is a foreign vehicle. Only 67% of the Suburban’s parts are made in America. On the other hand, the Toyota Camry, which most people refer to as an import car has an 80% domestic, parts content. The American vs. Import war has been going on for decades, and most people have taken a very simple view on it. According to Autoweb.com, the Toyota Sienna minivan is almost as “American” as the Chevy Silverado (85% vs. 90%). Another view to this car war is where the profits go. This is the view that most people take, even if it means supporting an American car that is assembled in Mexico than an import made in America. I personally believe that people should base their purchases on whether they like the car or not and the features that it has over what company it is made by. Recently, Cars.com released a list of the Top 10 American-Made Cars. Two of the top ten cars are from a foreign company, Toyota. Experts predict that there may be more foreign company cars invading that list. The Ford F-150 was the 1^st place winner, and has been the best selling American vehicle for 31 years. I am almost positive that this is because of the quality of the vehicle, not the location of where it was made. I personally drive a 1997 Ford F-150, with 200K miles on it. The truck has been in my family for 9 years, and we have not had any problems with it. When I go shopping for a new vehicle, I don’t look at the brand or where it’s made, and I rarely pay attention to car commercials. I am looking to find the best vehicle for me, regardless of whether it is “American” or not.

_Ihor-Balaban