This only means the Big Three are ready to start hiring or rehiring autoworkers, hopefully in the recession-ravaged metropolises such as, well, Detroit where African Americans predominate.
Ford reported at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that they are going create 7,200 jobs over the next two years. GM and Chrysler announced plans to add thousands of workers and engineers. GM brands won the 2011 Car of the Year (Chevrolet Volt) and 2011 Truck of the Year (Chevrolet Silverado). GM and Ford were very profitable last year. Chrysler is making money on an operating basis.
Even Toyota, whose worldwide dominance helped send the Big Three’s profits into free-fall, is building a domestic safety research center in metro Detroit that will create even more jobs.
Two years after the infamous fall and government takeover, J.P. Morgan predicts GM shares could hit $44 by December 2011 because “it has the unique combination of No. 1 market share in both of the fastest growing geographies (the United States and the booming markets of Brazil, India, Russia and China) as well as a strong cash generation and the makings of a balance sheet free of nearly all financial liabilities.”
Consumer Reports says Ford is nearly neck-and-neck with Toyota, the brand that seemed to do nothing wrong in years past, but has been humbled by unprecedented recalls.
No, it’s not quite time to break out the cigars, but for urbanites affected by the recession and the Big Three collapse, this is a time for cautious optimism. –terry shropshire
