Final answer:
The probability that a vehicle chosen at random was produced in the United States, given the 2010 production figures, is approximately 0.178 or 17.8%.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks for the probability that a vehicle chosen at random was produced in the United States, given the production numbers for the top five motor vehicle producers in 2010. To compute this, we need to find the total vehicles produced by all five countries first and then divide the number of vehicles produced in the United States by that total.
The sum of vehicles produced by China (16,144), Japan (9,197), United States (7,632), Germany (5,700), and South Korea (4,184) is:
16,144 + 9,197 + 7,632 + 5,700 + 4,184 = 42,857 (in thousands).
Next, we calculate the probability:
Probability = (Number of vehicles produced in the United States) / (Total number of vehicles produced by the top five countries)
Probability = 7,632 / 42,857
Probability ≈ 0.178 (rounded to three decimal places as per the question).
Therefore, the probability that a vehicle chosen at random was produced in the United States is approximately 0.178 or 17.8%.