R.I. named one of least ‘patriotic’ states for car buying

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Rhode Island landed in the bottom 10 of “most patriotic” states in terms of domestic car and truck purchases, according to a report from TrueCar, an automotive pricing and analysis company.
Rhode Island ranked No. 45 for percentage of cars and trucks bought from U.S. companies, out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The state clocked in with 28.7 percent of new car purchases domestic, still better than last place Hawaii, whose residents purchased only 19.4 percent of new vehicles from U.S. automakers. The District of Columbia came in with 22.6 percent and California with 22.9 percent.
Michigan unsurprisingly topped the list with nearly 80 percent of all purchases domestic. The “Big Three,” Chrysler, Ford and GM, are each based in the state. Fellow Midwestern states filled the top spots for patriotic purchases, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa ranked second, third and fourth. More than 60 percent of these states’ car and truck purchases were from U.S. automakers.
“Despite Asian and European automakers having a number of factories in the U.S., many Americans still have strong loyalty to the brands they view as ‘domestic’,” senior analyst for TrueCar Jesse Toprak said in a statement. “Even as the line defining what is or isn’t domestic has blurred, perception, attitudes and buying habits are more resistant to change, particularly in the heartland.”
The top 18 states on the list all purchased more than 50 percent of cars and trucks from the U.S., according to the report.

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