Why Is The Ford Maverick The ‘Least American’ Made Pickup Truck?

The pickup truck is just as an American icon as apple pie, baseball, the bald eagle, and rock n’ roll. So it would be safe to assume that these same trucks being made for the U.S. market would be made in America, right? Well this is true in many cases, there is one particular pickup truck that screams “All-American”, but is actually made mostly in Mexico.

According to the “2022 Made in America Auto Index” by the Kogod School of Business, the least “American-made” truck is actually the Ford Maverick.

RELATED: Jeep Recognized as the Most American Brand for 20 Consecutive Years

Why is the Ford Maverick Made In Mexico?

The fact that the Ford Maverick shares the same call sign as Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun suggests that this pickup truck is dripping with red, white, and blue. However, according to Kogod‘s 2022 auto index, the Maverick ranked at the bottom of the list for pickup trucks because the truck itself is actually made in an assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico in which only 26% of its parts come from the U.S. & Canadian sources.

Under the Automobile Labelling Act, any pickup truck (like the Ford Maverick) that weighs a half-ton or less is required to have its assembly location and percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts listed on the sticker on its window. Even according to the 2023 American-Made Index by Cars.com, this same data listed the top 100 all-American vehicles made of the year, and the Ford Maverick didn’t make a single appearance on the list.

So why exactly is the Maverick made in Mexico instead of the U.S.? One big reason has to do with the fact that this midsize pickup truck is also very popular in Mexican markets as well thanks to its affordable cost, as well as the high demand for a simplified work truck.

The Most American-Made Pickup Truck Is…

To determine which truck is the most “American-made”, the Kogod School of Business ranks each make and model by the content percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts, as well as where each brand does its research and development, as well as the location of their headquarters. According to the list, the Chevrolet Colorado comes in first, followed by Ford F-150, Ford Ranger, Honda Ridgeline, and Jeep Gladiator.

It should be noted that while there are other trucks that are assembled in Mexico as well, like certain Chevrolet Silverados, Ram 1500 Classics, GMC Sierras, and Toyota Tacomas, they all managed to outrank the Ford Maverick due to having higher content percentages of U.S. and Canadian parts.