Feature: Made in the USA
It's not all pick-up trucks and muscle cars - some may surprise you.
Sunday 7: Made in the USA
Think ‘American cars’ and you probably imagine a Chevrolet Corvette or Ford Mustang.
But the Land of the Free makes all sorts of vehicles for many different brands - including Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen. So as America celebrated its 4th of July this week we thought we’d take a look at some of the cars you’ll find on Australian roads that came from the US of A.
Holden Acadia
It may not go on sale for a few months but Holden’s new seven-seat SUV will be coming from General Motors’ Spring Hills factory in Tennessee.
In the US, the Acadia wears a GMC badge but it will play an important role for Holden when it goes on sale later this year, giving the brand a rival to the likes of the Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Santa Fe.
Holden has already begun testing the car on local roads to tailor it to the demands of Auusie families but is playing coy about the exact technical details of the car. However, based on the GMC model it’s likely to be offered with a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine to give it the muscle to fight the Toyota and Hyundai head-on.
Ram 1500
Few vehicles are more distinctly American than the Ram 1500 pick-up, so it should come as no surprise it’s built at the company’s Sterling Heights, Michigan plant.
As Australia’s love of big utes grow, importer-converter American Special Vehicles has taken the leap to offer the 1500 locally in an attempt to overpower the likes of the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.
Power for the 1500 comes from a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 pumping out 291kW of power and 556Nm of torque, enough to give the pick-up a towing capacity of 4500kg - more than its key rivals.
Ram Australia will offer two models of the 1500, the Express, priced from $79,950 drive-away initially, and the Laramie, starting at $99,950 plus on-road costs.
Tesla Model X
Not only did Elon Musk manage to start an electric car company he managed to do it in the USA in the midst of a downturn of the market.
Both the Model S and Model X, as well as the much-delayed Model 3, are all built at the company’s Fremont factory in Northern California - far away from the heartland of US manufacturing in the midwest.
While the Tesla brand is relatively new, its Fremont factory actually has a lot of history making cars as it was originally a Chevrolet factory between 1962 and 1982 before it became a joint-venture between GM and Toyota until shuttering in 2010. Tesla decided to use it after canceling plans for an all-new factory and begun producing the Model S in 2012.
Honda NSX
Yes, that’s right, one of Japan’s ultimate sports cars is actually American. Honda USA led the development of the supercar and bolts it together at its Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio.
While the $420,000 price tag has meant very slow sales in Australia there’s no doubt this second generation NSX is a seriously impressive supercar. It’s powered by a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 with an electric motor to boost performance to 426kW and 646Nm.
Mercedes-Benz GLE
The German brand’s history of American manufacturing is tied to the rise of SUVs. The three-pointed star established its Alabama plant in 1997 to build the first generation ML-Class.
It has continued to be the home of the brand’s big SUVs and currently produces the GLE along with the larger GLS. It also recently added C-Class production for selected markets.
The current GLE actually began life still wearing the ML-Class badge in 2011 but a mid-life upgrade in 2015 saw the nameplate swap along with refreshed styling and updated mechanical components.
An all-new model is due by the end of 2018 and is expected to adopt many of the latest safety, mechanical and styling elements from the newer E-Class. But one thing that won’t change is where it is built.
BMW X5
The Bavarian brand beat its arch-rivals from Stuttgart to the US market, opening its Spartanburg, South Carolina factory in 1994. Since then it has produced a wide variety of cars but is most famous for being the home of the X5.
Alongside the X5 the same facility churns out the X3, X4 and X6. All up more than 300,000 BMW SUVs are built in Spartanburg and sent around the world each year.
BMW recently unveiled its new X5 which features an evolutionary look but rides on a new, larger platform that will also underpin the all-new X7, a luxurious seven-seater which will also be manufactured in South Carolina.
Ford Mustang
No list of great American-made cars would be complete without the ‘Stang. The definitive pony car rolls off the production line at the blue oval’s Flat Rock, Michigan plant.
The 2018 model Mustang recently hit Australia boasting improved performance and a sleeker new look. Underneath the redesigned bonnet is a tweaked 5.0-litre V8 that now makes 339kW and 556Nm.
It also has an upgraded interior which includes more soft-touch materials and a 12.3-inch digital dashboard as standard.
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