- GM says it employs more people than any other automaker in the USA.
- The company also says it contributes almost $50 billion to the nation’s GDP.
- GM does build plenty of cars locally, but it imports many important parts.
With the US’s big 250th anniversary celebration just days away, General Motors is promoting just how American it is and perhaps taking a thinly-veiled swipe at Ford at the same time. Ultimately, neither of the brand’s locally built models is as homegrown as you may have been led to believe.
In a recent post on GM’s News site, Mike Trevorrow, the company’s senior vice president of global manufacturing, put the automaker ahead of every rival, Ford included, on how many Americans it employs. “GM employs the most people of any automaker in the U.S. One in 10 American autoworkers is a GM employee,” the post reads.
Read: GM Added 50 ‘Cobots’ To A Plant Where It Just Laid Off Over 1,000 Workers
Trevorrow doesn’t stop at jobs. He says GM contributed nearly $50 billion to the nation’s GDP in 2025, and that the company has already poured $9 billion into local manufacturing and facilities this year. In its home state of Michigan, GM reckons every $10 in GDP it generates turns into roughly $17 in total economic activity.
Ford Builds More Cars In The US
Seeing GM promote its American-ness in this way doesn’t come as much of a surprise. surprise. Cross-town rival Ford has been running the same play in recent months, correctly noting that it builds more cars in the US than any other automaker. Some 83 percent of new Fords assembled in the US are sold here too.
As noted by the Detroit Free Press, GM has also said it has faced less exposure to tariffs than Ford because it uses fewer foreign suppliers for its parts. Recent filings have revealed GM expects to receive $500 million in tariff reimbursements after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s tariffs were illegal earlier this year. By comparison, Ford expects to receive $1.3 billion in reimbursements, revealing that it relies more heavily on foreign imports.
What Cars Are The Most American?
However, a recent study from Cars.com tells a less flattering story, because neither GM nor Ford ranks particularly high among the most American-made cars on sale. Of all passenger cars weighing less than 8,500 lbs (3,856 kg), the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y top the list, trailed by the Jeep Gladiator, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee L, and the Honda Ridgeline.
GM doesn’t crack the top 20 at all. Its most American-made model lands 25th overall, sitting behind the Lexus TX, Honda Accord, Acura MDX, Toyota Camry, Acura RDX, Kia EV9, and Toyota Tundra, every one of them a foreign brand building cars on American soil while GM makes the loudest patriotic noise.
By comparison, the most American-made Ford vehicle is 11th, the Navigator. Of the 86 most American-made vehicles, just 13 are produced by GM and 9 by Ford.
