Obama tours auto show, hails industry revival

DETROIT — President Obama hailed the revival of the nation’s auto industry on Wednesday, seeking to highlight how his administration provided the industry with billions of dollars in capital during the heart of the Great Recession even as many others were calling for the government to focus its resources elsewhere.

Speaking to auto workers after taking in the North American International Auto Show, Obama said the outcome of his administration’s bet is evident through a much-improved economy.

Obama spoke at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, the national headquarters of the joint relationship between the United Auto Workers and General Motors.

The president spent nearly an hour at the auto show, looking at crash avoidance technology from ZF TRW and sitting in a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, an all-electric car that will be available late this year.

Under ordinary circumstances, Bush said he wouldn’t have favored intervening to prevent auto makers from going out of business, but in the midst of a financial crisis and recession, allowing the industry to collapse would send the country into a deeper and longer recession.

The Obama administration also provided additional capital to help Chrysler and GM continue operating as they restructured operations before and during a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.