President Barack Obama is going to the heart of the U.S. auto industry to push an important election-year claim: his administration’s unpopular auto industry bailout has turned into an economic good-news story.
Mr. Obama will visit three auto plants over the next several days to tout what White House press secretary Robert Gibbs calls “a success story.”
In a report released Thursday , the White House said the auto industry has hired 55,000 workers – adding jobs for the first time since 1999 – and predicts another 11,000 new hires by the end of the year owing to plant refurbishments and added shifts.
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All Big Three automakers have also announced quarterly profits – the first time that has happened since 2004. GM showed a profit of $865 million in the first quarter of 2010 (its first since 2005), and Chrysler earned $143 million. Ford just announced a $2.6 billion profit for the second quarter – its fifth straight quarterly profit.
The administration also pointed to increased demand leading GM and Chrysler to skip the typical summer shutdown of several auto plants and the addition of shifts at GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. plants.
Exports of U.S. vehicles and parts are up (with sales to China alone totaling $1.85 billion in the first five months of 2010).
The White House said yesterday that the U.S. government will recoup the $60 billion the Obama administration spent on the auto industry bailout to avert an industry-wide meltdown.
In an interview broadcast Thursday on “The View,” President Obama said, “We are going to get all the money back that we invested in those car companies.”
Unclear is recoupment of an additional $25 billion spent during the Bush administration.
In its report the White House said failing to intervene would have led to the loss of nearly 1.1 million jobs.
“There’s no doubt that the team that worked on auto restructuring here at the White House is surprised at where GM and Chrysler are,” press secretary Robert Gibbs said on CBS’ “The Early Show” . “The Big Three all reported a profit for the first time since 2004, and these companies are hiring again – the auto industry’s hiring again for the first time
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