Of all the analogs available to represent the current state of the North American auto industry, the rear suspension assembly of a midsize crossover is not what leaps most readily to mind.
Yet according to the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, that rear end perfectly encapsulates today’s North American auto industry and the frivolity of manufacturing — from whole cloth — a trade war between three nations that have been successfully tied at the hip for decades.
The specific rear end — from a top-selling domestic model — is not identified because it just as easily could have been any North American-built crossover, or SUV or pickup, unibody or body-on-frame, Flavio Volpe, president of APMA, told me. Of the 16 components or subassemblies in APMA’s illustration below, three are from Mexico, six come from Ontario and seven are from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky or North Carolina. And it doesn’t really matter if it’s a GM or a Ford, a Jeep or a Toyota, because the results would be the same.
That rear suspension assembly wouldn’t function if not for the control arms from Ontario, any more than it would work if it lost its springs from Mexico or its rear differential from North Carolina. Every automaker executive on the continent knows that, along with every engineer and every purchaser.
But those folks, smart as they are, don’t make trade policy — they only have to live with the results.
It’s not just North America that’s inexorably tied together to make automobiles. When I covered what was then Fiat Chrysler a decade ago, I was amazed when it was explained to me how the 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine (troubled though it was) made its way into a Ram 1500 or a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Those engines started their manufacturing journey in South America, then traveled to Europe for machining before being shipped to Michigan for final assembly.
In this episode of the Ally All Ears Podcast, Aaron Lee, Senior Director at Ally Dealership Insurance, discusses the growing threat of cyberattacks on dealerships and the importance of staying vigilant. He shares essential tips for safeguarding against these risks and highlights the need for specialized cyber insurance coverage to protect your business.
Each year, Cars.com runs its annual American-Made Index of nameplates, ranking them based on criteria including assembly location, parts content, engine origin, transmission origin and U.S. manufacturing workforce. Last year’s Top 10 list included three Teslas, three Hondas and one nameplate each from Toyota, Lexus, Jeep and Volkswagen. While the index takes into consideration some of a nameplate’s main componentry, it doesn’t take it all into account — as evidenced so effectively in APMA’s illustration.
Global automaker executives, who must concern themselves with more than just fickle American consumers, find themselves squeezed by the Trump administration’s trade policies. They could pass along the tariffs to consumers, which brings its own set of problems in the market. They can choose to eat the tariffs themselves and lower their own profitability. Or they could attempt to appease the administration by announcing on-shoring agreements, knowing full well that those take time to implement, but doing so is likely to upset those in the places losing the work.
Canada and Mexico are two places likely to suffer most, and for automakers, the responses in those two nations could hurt. At nearly 1.9 million vehicles, Canada’s new-vehicle market is roughly that of California, a market no automaker would willingly cede, while Mexico’s 1.5 million vehicle market is smaller, but still sizable.
In Mexico, consumers already have the choice to move to less expensive Chinese-made vehicles. In Canada, that choice isn’t available, but it could be. Either way, no automaker wants to anger any potential customers, let alone millions of them.
The other choice, though more difficult, is more honorable: Defend their operations and supplier networks across North America and work with the leaders of those nations to overturn this unilateral tariff attack from the Trump administration. It’s a fight no automaker wants to take on, but which all should, because we are two months into the second Trump administration, with just 46 months to go before it ends.
As the saying goes in Canada when someone’s itching for a scrap: Elbows up, automakers.
