In President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night brought the current state of the American automobile manufacturing industry to center stage. All of Detroit's Big Three received prominent mentions by President Obama. "General Motors," he said, "is back on top as the world's number one automaker… Tonight, the American auto industry is back."
Is it though? Based on the numbers, it appears that the American auto industry is indeed once again healthy and growing. The Sacramento Bee reported that J.D. Power is projecting January 2012 U.S. auto sales to finish up the month at 681,000 units, representing a 6% increase over the figures from January 2010. Furthermore, light-vehicle production in North America finished 2011 up 10% over 2010.
General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford combined for 15% production growth last year, well ahead of the industry average. What does that mean for American job creation? Plenty, according to a report by Jerry Hirsch of the Los Angeles Times. At present, at little over 590,000 workers are employed at automobile production facilities on U.S. soil. That includes not only U.S. employees of the Big Three, but also those employed by Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Tesla and others in factories from the Carolinas and Tennessee to Detroit and California.
At the worst of the recession, that figure was just 550,000. Projections by the Center for Automotive Research say that another 60,000 U.S. autoworkers could be added to the rolls by the end of 2012. By 2015, says the Ann Arbor, Michigan auto industry research group, the total number of American automaker employees is expected to reach 750,000 workers, equal the highest number ever employed in that sector.
Foreign automakers are increasingly building cars intended for the U.S. market in the United States, creating American jobs in the process. Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda and a number of others have factories here.
What's more, a new trade agreement with Korea is means that, as the President said in Tuesday's speech "Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago."
If present projections hold, automakers should sell a million more cars in 2012 than were sold in 2011. Whatever your politically leanings, the resurgence of the United States as an automobile manufacturer and U.S. auto sales that are growing once again is a good thing for the economy and for the country.