NPR's On Point Peeks Under the Hood of the U.S. Auto Industry

NPR's On Point Peeks Under the Hood of the U.S. Auto Industry

By Michelle Krebs August 5, 2010

National Public Radio's On Point program used the occasion of President Obama's visit to a Ford assembly plant in Chicago to look under the hood of the U.S. auto industry. Only a year ago, Ford was struggling financially, while General Motors and Chrysler had just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Last week, the President was in Detroit visiting GM and Chrysler plants, hailing the governments $60 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler as a victory. A guest to the On Point program today, Ron Bloom,chief advisor to the U.S. Treasury Department on the auto industry -- the " Car Czar" -- was more cautious in declaring mission accomplished. Michelle Krebs, senior analyst and editor at large for Edmunds.com, was a guest on the program. So too was Edmunds AutoObserver.com contributor and Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Paul Ingrassia as well as Kentucky dealer Jack Kain, of Jack Kain Ford.

http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/08/us-auto-industry-revving-up

President Obama today visited Ford's assembly plant in Chicago, which will build the upcoming 2011 Ford Explorer SUV.
Only a year ago, Ford was struggling while General Motors and Chrysler were just emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, made possible with $60 billion in funding from the federal government. The President visited GM and Chrysler plants in Detroit a week ago and hailed the government's bailout of the automakers as a success.
NPR's On Point used the occasion of President's visits to look under the hoods of Detroit's automakers.

Ron Bloom, chief advisor to the U.S. Treasury Department on the auto industry, unofficially known as the Car Czar, defended the government's bailout of GM and Chrysler but was more cautious in hailing it a victory.

Michelle Krebs, senior analyst and editor-at-large for Edmunds.com, was among the program's participants as was Edmunds AutoObserver contributing writer Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist and former Detroit bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. His new book is "Crash Course: the American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster," and

Jack Kain, owner of Jack Kain Ford, serving central Kentucky. He has been in the auto sales business for more than 50 years.

 

Michelle Krebs:  is Editor-in-Chief of AutoObserver.com. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.