Auto Industry Gaining Momentum, even with Gas Guzzling Pick-ups. Lesson Learned? "Debbie Downer" Pundit Wrong!

Here's a taste of reality and an answer to why the auto bailouts worked:

General Motors and the Ford Motor Company said Tuesday that their sales in the United States rose last month and that the auto industry’s recovery appeared to regain some momentum ... G.M.’s sales were up 5.4 percent last month from a year ago, while Ford said its sales rose 3.1 percent.

Ford said it sold 50,449 of the pickups last month, the first time since March 2008 that its sales eclipsed 50,000.

G.M. said its sales were up 24.6 percent from July 2009, when it emerged from bankruptcy protection. July was the 10th consecutive month that sales of G.M.’s four active brands increased on a year-over-year basis; two of the brands more than doubled their sales from a year ago.

Now is a good time to hear from Debbie "Downer" Mitchell from the UW School of Business, who is an expert on consumers and the auto industry. This is the second time I've feature her here. This is either another example of her "glass is half empty" approach to life, or an admission that she is a hack conservative whiner who should not be any where near an institute of learning. From WPT's Here and Now:

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