8 Foreign Cars You Might Be Surprised are Made in America

You’re probably familiar with the Big Three automakers from Detroit. Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all build cars throughout the lower 48. But there is a whole host of foreign automakers that manufacture cars in the contiguous United States. Acura, Honda, Toyota, BMW, and Subaru—to name a few—all make cars right here on U.S. soil.

There are too many American-made, foreign-brand cars to list fully, so here are just a few we think might surprise you. These models may not wear badges from a U.S. maker, but they’re all American-made. If that’s a criteria that factors into your car buying decision, this list might help broaden your horizons a bit.

Let’s start with possibly the biggest surprise of them all. The Acura NSX, Acura’s range-topping hybrid supercar is American-designed and American-made. The NSX is built at Acura’s specially designed Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio. There, a number of specialized technicians move the unfinished cars around the plant on carts—no assembly lines here—and most of the work is done by hand.

Not too far from where the NSX is made, the American-made Acura TLX sedan is also built in Marysville, Ohio. Acura is taking a more serious look at the performance of its lineup these days, and the TLX will soon be getting the PMC treatment. A Japanese sedan, hand-built in Ohio. How cool is that?

Even though the Honda Civic is built in Canada, Honda’s best-selling SUV is built right here in the ‘States. The CR-V, a former MotorTrend SUV of the year winner, is made in both East Liberty, Ohio, and Greensburg, Indiana. The CR-V is feature-packed, good to drive, efficient, and as a result, is still a MotorTrend favorite.

Like its smaller brother, the Honda Pilot is also built domestically. The Pilot is manufactured in Lincoln, Alabama, alongside the Odyssey minivan. The Pilot is primarily aimed at North American markets, and the Pilot being built in Alabama only makes more sense when you think about just how much Americans love SUVs.

Considering trucks are a very American class of vehicle, it comes as no surprise that the Honda Ridgeline—along with fellow Japanese trucks the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra—is built in the ‘States. The Ridgeline is built in the same factory in Lincoln as its SUV twin, the Pilot. The two have been built alongside each other since the Ridgeline was introduced in 2006.

The Subaru Ascent is the biggest Subaru ever. It’s the company’s latest full-size, three-row SUV. It’s built in Lafayette, Indiana, alongside a number of other Subaru models. Just like the Subies that have come before it, the Ascent has full-time AWD and earns a five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unlike the Subies of old, however, the Ascent can seat up to eight people.

The Outback is a staple of the Subaru lineup. It’s built at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant in Lafayette, Indiana. It’s essentially a lifted wagon variant of the Legacy sedan, offering standard AWD, reasonable ground clearance, and a rugged-looking exterior. It’s a classic go-anywhere, do-anything wagon, and was named a finalist in the 2020 MotorTrend SUV of the year competition.

In the early 2010s, the Camry was the most American car you could buy. Today, that title belongs to offerings from Jeep, but the Camry is still made right here in the United States. The Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, has been producing the Camry since 1988.