The ABC News "Made in America" team has asked which car would create more jobs, an American car made in the United States, or a foreign car that is also made here. They compared the Toyota Camry, the top-selling sedan in the U.S. and the Ford Escape, the top selling SUV sold in the US. According to their findings, not only does the Camry contain more U.S. built parts, but it also helps create more jobs. To see the full article and watch the video, click here.
From ABC's report:
ABC News traveled to the Ford plant in Kansas City, Mo., and the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Ky., to investigate both cars and find out which one creates the most U.S. jobs. To do that, we had to find the answers to these three questions:
Is the car assembled here? Toyota: Yes, it takes more than 6,000 American workers to build the Camrys we buy.
Ford: Yes, it takes 2,250 workers to build the Escape.
How much of the car contains U.S. parts? Toyota Camry: 80 percent.
Ford Escape: 65 percent.
How many cars were sold in a given year? Toyota Camry: The most popular seller, 328,000 were sold last year.
Ford Escape: Just under 200,000 were sold in 2010.
Using that formula, the answer might not be what you think.
The U.S. brand that creates the most American jobs? The Ford Escape, which creates 13 assembly line jobs for every 100 cars sold, based on 2010 sales figures and company supplied information on how many workers actually man the assembly lines.
That is good, but doesn't top the Kentucky-built Toyota, which creates almost 20 U.S.-based manufacturing jobs for every 100 cars sold.
