Auto industry is showing some recovery, trickle-down felt locally
GRAYLING, MI -- Cars have been selling.
Thursday, General Motors released numbers that show they've posted a profit for the first time in seven years, and that's good news for manufacturers here in Northern Michigan.
General Motors reports it earned $4.7 billion last year.
This is the company's first profitable year since in six years and their most profitable since 1999, and the effects are being felt locally.
As GM continues to make a comeback from bankruptcy, production is up, and here locally, jobs are coming back.
For the 40 employees inside Air Way Automation, it's the sweet, soothing sound of metal on metal.
"This year is an upturn, this past year, we've done well, it compares to some of the older years we've had," said Air Way Automation Engineering Manager Tim Coggins.
Grayling-based Air Way Automation is north of the rust-belt, but the company thought they'd rust right with the auto industry a couple years ago when things turned sour. 90 percent of their automated equipment goes to auto manufacturers. The staff was slimmed down to just 15.
“We laid off 30 to 40 people, and we were able to hire 75 percent of them back," said Coggins.
And that's because vehicle production is rolling once again. For the first time in seven years, General Motors has posted a profit. GM says it earned $4.7 billion dollars in 2010. With the increase, demand is in overdrive for the equipment like Air Way Automation supplies, and to rev it down, people are going back to work.
"A lot of work that we are doing now is for the Volt engine and transmission line," said Coggins.
"This year has started off a lot better then previous January's and February's, we've actually been pretty busy," said Brad Scheer, owner of Scheer Motors in Grayling.
In 2010, cars left the lot at Scheer Motors. So far this year, the momentum has carried over. Brad Scheer says all GM models are selling, and when a year starts off with big numbers, it's usually a good sign of what's to come.
“There's an old saying in the car business, "nothing happens until we sell a car." It leads to extra service business, jobs of course, we've been able to call some people back to work, getting ready to call others back to work we hope," said Scheer.
For an MSNBC article regarding GM's profit, CLICK HERE.
