U.S. Auto Industry Revving Up

One year after the multi-billion dollar bailout, Detroit is buzzing over profits, new jobs, and electric cars. We look under the hood and check the vitals of America’s auto industry.

President Obama is in Chicago to visit a Ford assembly plant, the latest stop on his auto bailout victory tour. Last year's $60 billion rescue package, he says, is paying off. July car sales were up at the Big Three---and they’re turning a profit. Chevy's rolling out the new all-electric Volt. . Are American car manufacturers poised for a real comeback? Or running on bailout fumes and Toyota's troubles? Up next, On Point: we'll hear from the administration's "car czar" and others.

This hour, On Point: the road ahead for the American car industry.
- Jane Clayson
Guests:

Michelle Krebs, senior analyst and editor-at-large for Edmunds.com, where she writes the "Inside Line" column. She has covered the auto industry for 25 years, writing for publications including the New York Times, the Detroit Free Press, Motor Trend and  Autoweek. She's adjunct professor of business at Detroit's College for Creative Studies.

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."

Ron Bloom, chief advisor to the U.S. Treasury Department on the auto industry, also known informally as the position of "Car Czar." He helps oversee Detroit-related policy for the Obama administration.

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