Biden trumpets resurgent US auto industry

[zoog]

Yeah it's resurged all the way back to the early 1990's...



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday credited the Obama administration's intervention for the American auto industry's recovery from "the brink of extinction" and pointed to Chrysler's early repayment of the federal loan that saved it from disaster.

"This announcement came six years ahead of schedule - and just two years after Chrysler Corp. emerged from bankruptcy," Biden said in the administration's weekly radio and Internet address. "It's a sign of what's happening throughout the American automobile industry."

Biden also said that General Motors, which went through bankruptcy and has come back strong, announced in the past week that its Detroit Hamtramck factory in Michigan will run three shifts for the first time in its 26-year history.
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"Because of what we did, the auto industry is rising again," Biden said. "Manufacturing is coming back. And our economy is recovering and it's gaining traction."

AP

[brent217]

Re: Biden trumpets resurgent US auto industry

"Because of what we did, the auto industry is rising again," Biden said. "Manufacturing is coming back. And our economy is recovering and it's gaining traction."

AP

One true statement out of three isn't bad!

[zoog]

As consumers delay, May auto sales slow

Auto sales slowed in May, hurt by a wait-and-see attitude among consumers.

Consumers were tripped up by a confounding set of circumstances, including rising auto prices, a spike in gas prices and auto inventory shortages, that combined to "plague" sales, said Jeff Schuster, an analyst at J.D. Power and Associates.

LA Times

[lektrode]

Re: As consumers delay, May auto sales slow

...Consumers were tripped up by a confounding set of circumstances, including rising auto prices, a spike in gas prices and auto inventory shortages, that combined to "plague" sales...

add to this investor skepticism, and its looking like biden has just claimed his "bush victory"

• AUTOS
• JUNE 1, 2011, 1:52 P.M. ET

Government May Lose $16 Billion on Auto Bailout


By JOSH MITCHELL

WASHINGTON—The White House said Wednesday that taxpayers may never recover about $16 billion of the bailout money extended to the auto industry in 2008 and 2009, in a new report designed to tout the industry's turnaround from wide-scale bankruptcies.
The White House released the report, "The Resurgence of the American Automotive Industry," ahead of President Barack Obama's trip Friday to a Chrysler Group LLC facility in Toledo, Ohio.
The report said that of the $80 billion in bailout money for the industry, less than 20%, or $16 billion, may be lost. That's down from the 60% loss projected two years ago, the report said.
The new emphasis on the auto industry is part of a White House plan to turn the industry bailout into a political advantage, particularly in Midwestern states that were hit hard by the recession and could provide key support for the president's re-election bid in 2012.
The White House report also comes as the U.S. industry's sales have hit a lull. U.S. auto sales declined in May, in only the second significant slide since the fall of 2009, as short supplies, higher prices and economic worries weighed on demand, auto companies said Wednesday.
Most of the government's money went to General Motors Co. and Chrysler as they underwent bankruptcy reorganizations. Auto finance companies and parts suppliers also received aid.
The U.S. could lose more than $10 billion in GM alone if the government sold its remaining shares of the auto maker at current share prices.
The report said the auto bailouts ultimately saved the government tens of billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs, including the cost of unemployment insurance and lost tax receipts, that the government would have incurred had the industry collapsed.
"Two years later, the American auto industry is mounting a comeback," the report stated. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the industry has created 115,000 jobs, its strongest period of growth since the late 1990s, the report said.

[flintlock]

Re: As consumers delay, May auto sales slow

Auto sales slowed in May, hurt by a wait-and-see attitude among consumers.

Consumers were tripped up by a confounding set of circumstances, including rising auto prices, a spike in gas prices and auto inventory shortages, that combined to "plague" sales, said Jeff Schuster, an analyst at J.D. Power and Associates.

LA Times

I'm one of those taking the wait and see attitude. I'm expecting better deals later this year.