Composite poster built from Honda press photos: 2026 Passport plus current Civic manufacturing context. The article below uses Cars.com and The Drive as source reporting for the 2026 American-Made Index results.
Cars.com released its 2026 American-Made Index, and The Drive highlighted the surprise for many shoppers: Honda and Toyota-related nameplates took six of the top ten spots. The Honda-related entries were the Honda Ridgeline, Honda Odyssey, Honda Accord, Acura MDX, and Honda Passport. Lexus TX 350 gave Toyota the sixth import-brand spot. Cars.com American-Made Index The Drive, June 26, 2026
Vehicle imagery may not represent the actual vehicle available at Maple Honda.
What the index actually measures
The Cars.com index is not a quality ranking, a reliability ranking, or a "best car" list. It looks at a vehicle through a manufacturing lens: where it is assembled, how much domestic parts content it has, where the engine and transmission come from, and how much U.S. manufacturing employment the automaker supports.
That is why the results can feel backwards to shoppers. A full-size pickup with an American badge may not rank as high as expected if major components, parts content, or assembly inputs are spread across borders. The Drive points out that many consumers still assume the Ford F-150 is automatically the most American-made pickup, even though the 2026 index puts other trucks ahead of it.
The Honda-reader takeaway
If you already like Honda, this list reinforces something important: Honda is not a brand that simply imports cars into North America and calls it a day. Honda builds deep manufacturing roots here. For Canadian buyers, we see that even more clearly because the Civic and CR-V are built in Alliston, Ontario, while several U.S.-built Honda and Acura products also support the same North American parts-and-labour ecosystem.
For a Vaughan buyer, that matters in a practical way. It can affect parts flow, supply stability, tariff exposure, resale confidence, and the long-term health of the dealer network. It does not mean you should buy a vehicle only because of where it is assembled. The right car still has to fit your garage, your payment, your family, your commute, and your trade-in plan.
Henry's read: The index is a trust signal, not a shopping shortcut. Use it as one more reason to take Honda seriously, then compare the exact model you would actually drive every day.
How each Honda result translates to real shopping
Ridgeline: the pickup surprise
The Honda Ridgeline ranking near the top is a nice reminder that the Ridgeline is not a side project. It is a serious North American truck alternative for buyers who want bed utility without the full-size pickup ride, fuel cost, and garage penalty. If you are comparing it against a Tacoma, F-150, or Ram, read the Ridgeline buyer page, the Tacoma vs Ridgeline comparison, the F-150 vs Ridgeline comparison, and the Ram 1500 vs Ridgeline comparison.
Odyssey: the practical family answer
The Honda Odyssey has always been a product people appreciate more after they live with it. Sliding doors, a low load floor, easy third-row access, and real cargo space matter more than SUV image once you are moving kids, grandparents, strollers, hockey bags, and grocery runs around Vaughan. The American-Made result does not make the Odyssey cool, but it does make the "serious family tool" argument stronger.
Accord: the sedan that keeps proving a point
The Honda Accord is still one of the clearest examples of Honda's long-term North American strategy. If you are cross-shopping Accord against Camry, the key question is not which badge is more patriotic. The key question is whether you prefer Accord's space, ride, steering feel, and hybrid driving character versus Toyota's hybrid-only Camry pitch. If you are a Richmond Hill or Markham commuter, the Honda vs Toyota comparison page is the better starting point.
Passport and MDX: the two-row and three-row platform story
The Honda Passport and Acura MDX showing up together also tells a platform story. Honda's larger SUV engineering is heavily North American, and the Passport is the cleaner two-row answer for buyers who do not need a third row but want more presence and V6 confidence than a compact SUV. If you are deciding between Passport, Pilot, and a Toyota Highlander-style three-row, start with the Passport guide and the Highlander vs Pilot comparison.
Where Toyota fits into this
Toyota deserves credit too. The Lexus TX 350 made the top 10, the Camry was reported just outside it at #11, and the Toyota Tundra ranked ahead of several Detroit full-size pickups in the same index. This is not a "Honda wins, Toyota loses" story. It is a reminder that both Honda and Toyota have spent decades building North American manufacturing depth.
For shoppers, that makes the Honda-vs-Toyota decision more honest. Do not pick based on national-brand myths. Pick based on the vehicle. A CR-V buyer should compare against RAV4 directly through the RAV4 vs CR-V guide. A Civic buyer should compare through the Corolla vs Civic guide. A truck buyer should compare Tacoma and Ridgeline with the actual daily-driving math in front of them.
If you are buying right now: Use the American-Made Index as a confidence signal for Honda's North American footprint. Then bring the decision back to the showroom basics: payment, trim, warranty, fuel cost, safety tech, cargo space, and how the car feels on your actual test drive.
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