With the Republican presidential hopefuls participating in a debate about jobs and the economy just a few miles from the city of Detroit, it was inevitable that the candidates would be asked about the federal bailout that saved GM and Chrysler — and Mitt Romney in particular.

Romney’s father was a former auto company CEO and former governor of Michigan, so when he wrote a Wall Street Journal column in early 2009 with the headline “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” and argued against federal money being used to restructure those companies, it drew a good deal of criticism from business, labor and politicians of both parties from Michigan who supported the bailout.

During Wednesday’s debate, Romney tried not to back away from that position:

He said: “My view with regard to the bailout was that whether it was President Bush or whether it was President Obama (approving financial relief), it was the wrong way to go.”

But one of his most prominent Michigan supporters illustrates the fine line Romney is trying to walk on the issue:

Saul Anuzis, Michigan’s Republican National Committeeman and a Romney backer, said the challenge for Romney and other Republicans who advocated for a managed bankruptcy is explaining what they mean by bankruptcy.
“If you ask the average voter today … they assume the company is going to be closed,” Anuzis said. “And that’s what the Democrats are saying, which is really a blatant lie. … Bankruptcy traditionally is a form of reorganization.”

But in fact, that is exactly what the Obama administration did — used a managed bankruptcy to restructure GM and Chrysler, after which they have emerged once again as profitable and growing companies. So the difficult task for Romney is to argue in favor of a managed bankruptcy and still argue that Obama was wrong for guiding the companies through a managed bankruptcy.

Chrysler today posted a $212 million profit in the third-quarter, for its second quarterly profit since its 2009 bankruptcy, and increased its forecast for its full-year profit to $600 million.

The net income compares with a loss of $84 million a year ago and comes the day after the UAW passed its new contract with Chrysler, despite opposition from skilled trades workers.

Chrysler’s worldwide vehicle sales in the third quarter increased 24% to 496,000, for total revenues of $13.1 billion, up 19%. The automaker’s market share in the U.S., its biggest and most lucrative market, increased nearly two points to 11.4% in the quarter, as Japanese automakers’ sales plummeted due to production disruptions after their country’s March earthquake and tsunami.

The new contract and the improved financial outlook should allow the company to invest $4.5 billion and create more than 2,000 new jobs. All of the Big Three American automakers now have completed contracts with the UAW for the next several years.

The Detroit News reports:

The new contract between Chrysler Group LLC and the United Auto Workers appears headed for ratification, with only one major plant left to vote today.

Workers at Chrysler’s Toledo North Assembly Plant cast their ballots Monday. And while the results were still being tallied Monday night, it seemed likely that members of UAW Local 12 would throw their weight behind the new agreement, given that it promises major new investments in the Jeep factory.

The contract is not as generous as the contracts with Ford and General Motors, but that is largely because Chrysler is not yet as profitable as those companies and has further to go to regain a solid, long-term financial footing in the wake of the 2009 bankruptcy.

The United Auto Workers has made it official: Its 41,000 members at Ford Motor Co. voted to accept the tentative agreement, the union announced Wednesday.

Results concluded Tuesday at the 58 UAW-Ford locals.

The final tally after two weeks is 63 percent in favor of the agreement with 22,031 “yes” votes to 37 percent voting against or 12,957 “no” votes, including 4,243 skilled trades voting in favor and 2,268 against. Total number of votes cast was 34,988.

The plan includes $16 billion in new investment intended to create 12,000 more jobs for autoworkers. UAW members have just begun voting on a proposed deal with Chrysler.

The Senate Economic Development Committee, which is considering legislation to create a public authority to take bids on the new bridge, will hold hearings Tuesday and Wednesday and vote on the two bridge bills at the end of Wednesday’s session, said Mike Murray, chief of staff to committee chairman Sen. Mike Kowall, R-White Lake.

Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing the project, dubbed the New International Trade Crossing, and wants the Legislature to deal with it by the end of October.

It’s not clear whether there is support in the Legislature to pass the bills. Republicans have generally opposed the public bridge, while Democrats have supported it.

Canada has offered to finance the $550 million needed to pay for the Michigan portion of the bridge, and the project is supported by a broad range of business and labor groups because it is expected to provide jobs and improve trade over the border.

Gov. Snyder has also worked out an arrangement with the U.S. Dept. of Transportation that would allow Michigan to use the $550 million from Canada as matching funds to secure $2 billion in federal road dollars.

Billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Maroun has blanketed the state with ads in opposition to plans for the new publicly-owned bridge.

Hourly workers at Ford Motor Co. will receive a $6,000 signing bonus as part of a new four-year contract with the automaker that also pledges $4.8 billion in new investment in U.S. plants at least $15,700 in bonuses and profit sharing payouts.

The agreement also secures more than 12,000 jobs, including 7,000 previously announced – 6,250 hourly and 750 salaried – and 5,750 new jobs that will be added by the end of 2012 and pay an entry-level wage.

Included in the plans to create more jobs is more investment in Ford’s plant in Wayne, Michigan. Some of those jobs will be created by moving work done in other countries back to American plants. UAW members will vote on the contract soon.

The Detroit News reports:

General Motors Co. rank-and-file approved the automaker’s proposed four-year contract with the United Auto Workers by a 2-to-1 majority, the union said Wednesday.

In the final tally, 65 percent of production workers and 63 percent of skilled trade workers voted in favor of the deal, ratifying a tentative agreement struck two weeks ago by GM and UAW bargainers. The new contract becomes effective immediately.

“The UAW and GM entered into this set of bargaining as America struggles with record levels of unemployment and an economy that shows little sign of improvement,” said UAW President Bob King in a statement released Wednesday morning.
In all, 48,500 workers from 81 locals got a chance to vote on the contract, which along with providing new jobs and more work for UAW members, boosts the entry-level pay by about $3 an hour, offers $75,000 buyouts for skilled trade workers, and includes a $5,000 signing bonus — to be paid out Oct. 14. Workers also will get a $1,000 “inflation protection” lump sum for the next three years of the agreement.

Negotiations continue on a new contract with Chrysler and Ford.

General Motors Co. will give its hourly workers a $5,000 signing bonus, if they approve a tentative contract agreement reached by the company and the United Auto Workers union Friday night, people familiar with the pact said Saturday.

Under the agreement, GM also has agreed to reopen its Spring Hill, Tenn. plant; base profit-sharing checks on North American profits, rather than on U.S. earnings; and give entry-level workers a $2-$3 an hour increase. Those so-called tier two employees, who are paid $14-$16 an hour, will be boosted to $16-$19 an hour.

Also, a person briefed on the deal said Saturday, the proposed contract includes buyout offers to GM’s skilled trade workers. The Detroit automaker has about 1,000 skilled tradesmen working on the line, rather than in skilled trades positions that it no longer needs. GM hopes to pare back the number of skilled trades workers on assembly lines. The tentative pact still must be approved by a vote of the union’s rank and file.

Ford and Chrysler are also in active negotiations with the auto worker’s union.

We said that American autoworkers could once again build the best cars in the world. So we stood by the auto industry. And we made some tough choices that were necessary to make it succeed. And now, the Big Three are turning a profit and hiring new workers, and building the best cars in the world right here in Detroit, right here in the Midwest, right here in the United States of America.

I know it. I’ve seen it. I’ve been to GM’s Hamtramck plant. I’ve been to Chrysler’s Jefferson North Plant. I’ve seen Detroit prove the cynics and the naysayers wrong.

And he called for a new program of federal spending on infrastructure projects, foreshadowing the speech he will give to a joint session of Congress on Thursday:

We’ve got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding. We’ve got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building. We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. There is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. Labor is on board. Business is on board. We just need Congress to get on board. Let’s put America back to work.

He also hinted that he will call for an extension of the payroll tax cut that was passed last year and is set to expire in a few months.

New vehicle sales in the U.S. will rebound to 16 million by 2013 as consumers stop delaying purchases and lenders resume doing business with sub-prime borrowers, according to the consulting firm’s A.T. Kearney’s annual study.

Dan Cheng, leader of the consultant’s automotive practice, said new vehicle sales this year will reach 13.2 million, about on track with other estimates throughout the industry.

Sales this year have been on pace for that 13.2 million figure through the first four months.