The iconic V8 once ruled the roads of America. Though many other powerplants have become equally popular, all the Detroit Three are still happy to sell you a traditional V8 in your truck or muscle car. But the truth is that every Hemi V8 in a Dodge or Ram comes from Mexico, and Ford is making most of its V8s in Canada. While General Motors builds some of its current V8s abroad, it is tooling up factories here in the U.S.A. to build its all-new sixth-generation small-block V8.

Where will Chevy make its 6th-gen small-block?

Chevy is committed to building the next generation of its V8 in the U.S.A. The new GM V8 will be assembled in Flint, Michigan. Its block will come from Defiance, Ohio. Its heads, camshaft, and connecting rods will come from Bay City, Michigan. Finally, its intake manifolds and fuel rails will come from Rochester, New York.

This information comes from General Motors’ announced investment in its U.S. factories. The automaker is committing $854 million to the next generation of its small-block V8. Of this money, $579 will go into retooling Flint Engine Operations, $216 million to Bay City Operations, $47 million to Defiance Operations, and $12 million to Rochester Operations.

Why is General Motors doubling-down on American manufacturing? GM’s strategic announcement came just before entering into negotiations over a new contract with the United Auto Workers union–according to Auto Week.

So what do we know about this new engine? Not much. A spokesperson said, “Manufacturing commitments like the one made here with future V8s are a pretty early step in the process of us bringing new things to market. When we’re ready to share more we’ll let you know, but that may be a bit.”

Where does Ford make its V8 engines?

Ford makes some special edition V8s in the U.S. But most of its V8s come from one of two plants just outside of Detroit city limits, in Windsor, Canada. This includes the 5.0-liter “Coyote” V8, the new 6.8-liter V8, and the 7.3-liter “Godzilla” V8 available in Super Duty trucks.

Ford opened its first engine plant in Windsor, Ontario before it began making V8 engines. Later, its big block “Windsor” V8s would even carry the plants name. Today, its two plants in Windsor are pioneering a new “modular” assembly process allowing them to make different engines using the same machines. This system gives the current “modular” V8 family its name.

Ford’s newest V8 is the 6.8-liter we might as well call the “mini-zilla” because its a derivative of the Super Duty’s 7.3-liter “Godzilla” V8. This engine is the new base engine in Super Duty trucks. Ford is building its newest engine in Windsor as well, so there’s no reason to think it will move production of any future V8s to the U.S.

Where do Ram and Dodge make their V8 engines?

Every Hemi V8 in a Ram truck or Dodge muscle car comes from Saltillo, Mexico. This includes the 5.7-liter Hemi, the 6.4-liter version, and even the 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8 designed by SRT.

Chrysler Corporation first moved some production to the Saltillo region in the 1950s. The Saltillo plant has been making the third-generation Hemi V8 alongside U.S. plants as long as the third-gen has been around. The same is true for the later 6.4-liter and supercharged variants.

Recently, Stellantis split engine production, pressing U.S. factories into service to build engines such as the Pentastar. As a result, every 2023, Hemi V8 will hail from Mexico. See where more V8 engine options are made in the table below:

Find out what’s the final full-size ‘American’ pickup truck still buil in the USA (hint: it’s not the Silverado/Sierra), or learn more about the sixth-gen Chevy small-block V8 in the video below:

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