Tesla has ranked as the most American-made car in the 2021 Cars.com American-Made Index for the first time ever. 

The Elon Musk-owned automobile company beat out other competitors such as Ford and Jeep to take the top spot in the index. 

Specifically, the company's Tesla Model 3 came in first place. It is followed by the Ford Mustang, which jumped 32 places up from its 2020 ranking, in second and fellow Tesla car Model Y in third.

According to Cars.com, the Tesla Model 3 and Mode Y "held strong domestic credentials" that landed them in the first and third spots.

Tesla Ranks is Most American-Made Car: How It Happened

Tesla has managed to get two of its cars in the top of the Cars.com American-Made Index. How exactly did its cars end up in first and third place? What does it even mean to be the "most American-made car?"

Now in its 16th year, Cars.com American-Made Index takes into account five different factors when doing its yearly car ranking, according to Business Insider: the car's final assembly location, origin of parts, origin of engines, origin of transmissions, and its manufacturing workforce. 

The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are both listed as California-made cars.  

Other cars that rounded the top 10 are the Jeep Cherokee, Chevrolet Corvette, Honda Ridgeline, Honda Odyssey, Honda Pilot, Honda Passport, and Toyota Tundra. The Honda cars are listed as Lincoln, Alabama-made while the Toyota Tundra is listed as made in San Antonio. 

Also Read: Toyota Camry Ironically Tops List Of Cars With Most American-Made Content

All the cars in the index have been ranked for the 2021 models. 

Panasonic Sells Off Entire Tesla Stake

In other Tesla-related news, Panasonic, the company's oldest industrial partner, has sold off its entire stake in Tesla last fiscal year, according to various reports. The fiscal year ended on March 31, 2021. 

According to a report by Nikkei Asia, this was done by Panasonic to fund future new investments. Despite selling off its stake, the company insists that nothing will change in its business relationship with Tesla. 

Panasonic is said to have bought 1.4 million shares in Tesla back in 2010 for $21.15 per share. Per CNBC, it is now worth $679.82 per share. 

The History Between Tesla and Panasonic

Panasonic is regarded as Tesla's oldest industrial partner. The relationship between when Tesla was still an up-and-coming Silicon Valley startup that partnered with the Japanese tech giant for lithium-ion cell supply, according to Forbes. These lithium-ion cells have been used in Tesla's battery packs. 

Their latest battery product, the Tesla 4680 Battery, is scheduled for production sometime later this year. 

Panasonic even made a $256 million investment in a New York production plant Tesla set up in 2016. The production plant was meant to manufacture photovoltaic cells and modules. 

Panasonic also currently works with Tesla in its Gigafactory, which manufactures the batteries for the company's electric cars.  

Related Article: Tesla-Panasonic giga dream takes wings in form of gigafactory

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Written by Isabella James