If only I could find one on the local car lots that where under that price... Instead the local car dealers all have those cars tricked out, then it becomes a question, pay for that with all the bells and whistles (which I don't want) or buy the SUV that is the same price that they do have on the lot?
To indulge a tangent, which attribute would you say is determinative for an “American car”? Is it just where the corporation is registered? That’s probably international across the board, after all Jeeps are Chryslers are Fiats are Peugeots are all Stellantis and are headquartered in the Netherlands by way of France, Italy, and America. I suppose Ford still resembles its original American identity, even if they’d really like to build more cars in Mexico. General Motors is still mostly an American brand, but it also sold Hummer to a Chinese company, and has several platforms that are shared with European and Asian brands. If it’s simply where the board members hold meetings, then I’m not too keen on buying American for its own sake, but the broader point is, what the hell even is an American car anymore?
I would argue the location of its manufacture is probably the most significant factor, as it contributes the most towards what I think of people commonly think of as buying “American”—things like supporting the assembly line workers, and as much as possible keeping the economic activities surrounding its production domestic. To that end, my BMW 3-series was built in South Carolina, and would then rank as an American car. But that notion is pretty absurd to my sensibilities, so maybe it’s more of a cultural idea? So American cars could be made anywhere, as long as they’re huge, overpowered, and are a Ford F-150. By that logic, I’d call a Jeep Wrangler American, but probably not the Wagoneer (see: Range Rover), and certainly not the Compass (see: pre-Genesis Hyundai). This definition seems far too ambiguous and subjective.
Ultimately, I think globalization has effectively ended the whole idea of nationalistic car manufacturing. Like a lot of now-vestigial cultural institutions, the modern world economy has consumed these old modes of thought, and left them to be wielded as marketing by advertising agencies who eagerly leverage our nostalgia and cultural identities to craft the illusion that these brands still represent the American Way®.
