If you want to support the American auto worker, you don’t necessarily have to buy a Ford or a Chevy.
Consumer Reports has compiled a handy list showing how many cars models each carmaker — including foreign ones — build in the United States.
As an added bonus, the consumer watchdog also tells you how many of those U.S.-built models it recommends, so shoppers can both support American workers and get a good set of wheels.
Just looking at brands, Ford and Chevrolet build the most cars in the United States, with 12 U.S.-built models each. Of those, Consumer Reports recommends six Fords and five Chevrolets. The Chrysler brand has just one U.S.-built model, the 200, and Consumer Reports does not recommend it.
But if you look at brand families, General Motors – whose brands include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC - is the clearer heavyweight in American carmaking with 27 U.S.-built models. Consumer Reports recommends 11 of them.
Non-U.S. automakers offer a plethora of choices as well. Toyota builds nine models here, and eight are recommended. Consumer Reports also recommend six of the eight models Honda builds here.
The data is based on 2011 models sold in the United States. To compile the data, Consumer Reports looked at broad model categories instead of counting each individual trim separately.
The full list is available here.
Tip of the hat to msnbc.com auto writer Paul Eistenstein, who also wrote about the Consumer Reports list on his blog.