Strictly speaking, a foreign car is a car that has its parts made and assembled outside the U.S.
Beyond that, trying to define what a foreign car is can be a little tricky. The list of carmakers in different countries is quite long, and the relationships between foreign and domestic manufacturers have become blurred because of mergers and complicated partnership agreements. Sometimes, a foreign car manufacturer may choose to produce parts for a particular model in its own country but assemble the components in the United States. Some parts may be manufactured in the United States but assembled in another country.
At least nine foreign car companies manufacture millions of cars annually in America. The cars are either exported or sold within the country. Because of this domestic production, differentiating a foreign car from an American car may be near impossible.
