The Resurgence of the American Auto Industry – in Three GIFs

After nearly a decade of grit and grind, the American auto industry has quite a story to tell.

At the start of the century, U.S. automakers were leading global competitors in the industry, producing and selling cars at impressive rates. But the Great Recession hit our auto companies hard -- sales plummeted, the industry was losing 40,000 jobs a month, and suddenly these giants of American manufacturing were teetering on the brink of collapse when President Obama took office in 2009. That March, the President had to make a tough decision: Let national icons go bankrupt, or rescue the American auto industry.

Thanks to six years of grit and resilience -- and one decision to stand by American companies -- here’s the moral of the story: The American auto industry’s resurgence is real.

Today, the President is headed to Detroit to highlight the progress that American automakers, manufacturers, and the economy have made since the recession. See how American auto companies have roared back to life, creating jobs, generating profits, expanding business, and helping to strengthen the economy:

The number of cars built on American assembly lines hit a record low in 2009 when our auto industry was facing bankruptcy. Thanks to the President’s decisive action, 2014 was our strongest year for car production since 2005.

American auto companies have added 506,100 jobs since mid-2009, the strongest growth the industry has seen since the 1990s. Both manufacturing and retail sectors of the industry have both seen the strongest growth since the 1990s. 

When the President decided to rescue the auto industry, American jobs were at risk -- not only at the auto companies themselves, but up and down the supply lines across the country. The Obama administration's actions saved more than a million jobs and helped put the American auto industry back on top as the the number-one producers of the most high-tech, fuel-efficient, and cutting-edge cars in the world.