24 Aug 2022
What Parts are Made in the USA?


 

There is a giant misconception in the automotive industry that is being perpetuated by the industry itself. There is this assumption that big-name parts and brands are made in the USA, which is patently not true. In fact, there is very little that is made in the USA anymore, and next to none of them are car parts.


 

Why are there these disingenuous half-lies and omissions from the same people that want you to buy their stuff? They never outright say that their parts are made in the USA, but they will say stuff like “American engineering” or “Built For Americans”. Or the good ole Assembled in the USA tags. Those statements make you think they are made in the USA, but it is never explicitly said. Think about this next time you see a commercial for the big car manufacturers or car parts manufacturers, and how they may be trying to fool you. 


 

They do it for a reason.


 

The reason they do this is that Americans prefer to buy American. It makes sense, most of us would like to support US businesses, and we like to think that American-built things are of higher quality. As of 2017, 70% of Americans think it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to buy U.S.-made products, according to a REUTERS poll. However, when asked how much more people would be willing to spend to buy US-made products, 37% of those same people refuse to spend more on the product. On the highest markup, only 21% of those people accepted a top 10% price increase. That isn’t enough to cover the cost of manufacturing in the USA.


 

What is the push to move to manufacture overseas? The primary and most obvious answer is it is cheaper to produce them elsewhere. Not all countries have as strict of labor laws as the US and as amoral as it might be, big brands and manufacturers exploit this to bring you parts at a good price. The only way we would be able to manufacture things within the USA and keep prices down would be to move back into the ideological laissez-faire attitude of the early industrial revolution.


 

Therein lies the problem. We have this ideological view of making and buying American, but when it comes time to actually buy, we don’t want to pay the premium. We absolutely could bring these jobs back home and start making things here, but it’s coming out of our pocket. And most people can’t afford that. So marketing takes it upon itself to make you think that you’re buying American products, pocket your money, and then you’re free to comment about the “Made in China” stamp in the reviews.


 

We would like to hear from you! Would you be willing to pay that extra 20% premium for the “Made in the USA” stamp? Or what percent premium would you pay for it? Keep in mind that a, let’s say standard brake job, would go from $50 to around $75. Is that worth it? Let us know!


 

Let us know what you think! You can chat with us and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all of our blogs and deals on parts!