Tesla Driver Ticketed After Parking 'Foreign Car in Domestic Lot' at GM Factory

[TruckElectric]

You can hate on Tesla, but you can't deny where the vast majority are designed and assembled.

Lack of respect or fierce loyalty to cars built by a certain automaker is nothing new. Ford guys hate Chevy guys, Chevy guys hate Ford guys, and everyone hates Mopar guys. It's a never-ending cycle of meaningless friction. In recent years, there's been a general disdain for Tesla owners. Some people don't like electric cars, some don't like Tesla fans' attitudes, and a fair amount are very skeptical of Elon Musk. Regardless, most of the finger-pointers are just plain ignorant, because Tesla is an undeniably American company building cars in America. In fact, the Model 3 was just named the most American vehicle money can buy in 2021.

That apparently wasn't clear to at least one parking attendant at General Motors' Wentzville Assembly Plant in Missouri. A Tesla parked in a lot at the facility on June 3 was ticketed for being a "Foreign in domestic lot," aka, a car not built in the States parked in a lot designated strictly for domestic cars.

KYL BROWN

The parking slip was posted to Facebook in a group called "Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Signage." So far, it has elicited a variety of responses from commenters wondering if it's real, curiousity over separate parking for foreign cars at GM facilities, and mocking the presumed ignorance of the person who wrote the ticket.

As a matter of fact, some automaker's facilities do have brand-specific parking. According to commenters on the post in the group, Ford does it, Subaru does it, and as we confirmed, so does GM.

GM

We reached out to GM to get the company's take on the situation, and a representative confirmed a few details.
"Wentzville, like many of our manufacturing sites, has a parking policy and designated parking locations for GM vehicles, non-GM domestic vehicles and foreign nameplates," a GM spokesperson told us via email. "Plant security inadvertently thought the Tesla was a foreign car and wrote a ticket accordingly."

So, in a nutshell, the Tesla was parked in the correct lot, but plant security made a mistake. The Tesla owner was in the right.

TESLA

There is no financial penalty for the citation, it's just a warning, or so the spokesperson said. Seeing as this one was issued by accident, the Tesla owner will be able to keep parking where they park. A small victory perhaps, but a victory nonetheless.

SOURCE: THE DRIVE

 

[TruckElectric]

Tesla Model 3 Is the Most American Vehicle

Honda and Toyota still have the highest number of American-made vehicles.

BY ROB STUMPF JUNE 23, 2021

Consumers are loyal to car brands, especially American ones. While many folks believe that buying from an American automaker automatically means that the car is built in the U.S. or with U.S.-made parts, global supply chains and other large-scale production logistics typically mean otherwise. That's where the Cars.com American-Made Index (AMI) comes into play.

The AMI takes into account the assembly location, where the parts are sourced from, U.S. factory employment, engine sourcing, and transmission sourcing in order to rank vehicles based on just how much of an overall impact a particular vehicle model has on American soil.

AP

For 2021, the AMI ranks 90 total vehicles, placing California-based automaker Tesla directly at the top of the list. The Tesla Model 3 is positioned squarely in first place, marking the first time an electric vehicle has reached the number one spot in the AMI's 16-years history. This isn't Tesla's only appearance in the list either—as the similarly-built Model Y came in third place.

The Top 20
There are 344 different car models for sale in the U.S. this year, but only 90 of these models qualify to be ranked on the AMI, namely due to final assembly location, gross vehicle weight, or if a car is too niche due to low production numbers.

1. Tesla Model 3
2. Ford Mustang
3. Tesla Model Y
4. Jeep Cherokee
5. Chevrolet Corvette
6. Honda Ridgeline
7. Honda Odyssey
8. Honda Pilot
9. Honda Passport
10. Toyota Tundra
11. Ford Expedition
12. Acura RDX
13. Acura TLX
14. Chevrolet Colorado
15. GMC Canyon
16. Jeep Grand Cherokee
17. Honda Accord
18. Toyota Avalon
19. Lexus ES
20. Lincoln Navigator

At the bottom of the full 90-car list (which you can see here) there are some rather surprising picks. While some foreign automakers like Nissan, Toyota, and Honda have some models in the bottom five, there are a surprising number of domestic brands looming as well. For example, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 rank 74th and 80th, respectively, while the Ram 1500 Classic is second-to-last in 89th place.

Looking back, the Jeep Cherokee was the most American vehicle in 2019, followed by the Ford Ranger pickup in 2020.

AMI by Brands and Vehicle Type

DATA VIA CARS.COM

The two brands with the most models on the AMI are Honda and Toyota, both of which have 10 vehicles each. However, when combining corporate parent brands, General Motors comes out on top with 19 models, followed by Honda with 13 vehicles, Toyota with 12, and Ford with 11.
As for vehicle types, nearly 50 percent of models are crossovers and SUVs. A total of 28 percent are sedans and hatchbacks, and pickup trucks trail with 17 percent.

Buying American Is Important to Some
According to Cars.com's research, the overwhelming majority (72 percent) of American car shoppers say that the economic impact of a vehicle is a deciding factor in their purchase. This number is slightly elevated from 2020, with a third of car buyers surveyed reporting that COVID-19 has increased the likelihood of them buying an American-built car. Interestingly, 29 percent of car buyers surveyed considered it to be "non-patriotic" to buy a non-American-made vehicle.

"The 2021 AMI arrives against a backdrop of scarce inventory amid a microchip shortage and heightened consumer demand," said Kelsey Mays, assistant managing editor at Cars.com. "Despite this, there remains a high consumer focus on buying American-made vehicles as the economy is still emerging from the effects of the pandemic. For those interested in making the biggest impact here, the index gives shoppers a way to purchase the most American-made vehicle."


SOURCE: THE DRIVE

 

[Crissa]

Nice! Especially the second article.

-Crissa

 

[ldjessee]

Seems strange that the Model Y is not exactly the same as the Model 3.
Also, where are the Model S and X?
Does their battery cells being made in Japan really push them off the list completely? Or are there other aspects that get them moved off the list?

 

[Crissa]

Yes. There are so few parts in an EV that just a few will push them off the list. Especially batteries, as they're a huge portion of an EV's weight and value.

-Crissa