But with all this improved iron being made in America, how to determine which is the best? With that in mind, BusinessWeek.com took attempted to rank the best American cars of 2006—by reported reliability, government crash-safety ratings, and total cost of ownership.

We first took into consideration reliability data from Consumer Reports, including that publication's judgment on the car's overall reliability, acceleration performance, accident avoidance maneuvering, comfort, and fuel efficiency. Because those ratings operate on a five-tier scale (poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent) and because the overall rating is a figure out of 100 points, it was simple to "grade" cars on a one to five scale. Safety ratings, meanwhile, came from the government's database, maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Also based on a five-star system, crash ratings were averaged on a similar scale.

The most complicated—and potentially driest—calculation compared the total cost of ownership of each vehicle. Total cost of ownership (TCO), as calculated by Edmunds.com, is a general indication of ownership expenses over a five year time span. It incorporates a wide-range of long term factors including financing, taxes and fees, fuel, maintenance, repairs, operating cost, and depreciation costs.