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Two powerful new salesmen showed up at the Detroit auto show to make a pitch on behalf of General Motors and Chrysler: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"Today is a new beginning for the automotive industry," LaHood told reporters at an early morning press conference ahead of the show's opening Monday.
"When people have an opportunity to see the kind of products that are now being manufactured and will be on display, they will realize the auto industry is manufacturing products people want to drive."
The US government, which had long held a hands-off approach to the automotive industry, became a major stakeholder last year after loaning GM and Chrysler more than 50 billion dollars to keep them afloat during the economic crisis and finance their restructuring under bankruptcy protection.
LaHood insisted the products on display and in development, and the fact that GM has begun to repay its loans, will show American taxpayers it was a good investment that will pay dividends by helping revive the flagging economy.
"This industry is one of the pillars of our economy," LaHood told reporters.
"As this industry comes back, the economy will come back, jobs will come back and we'll be on the way to the kind of recovery we're all hoping for."
Speaking in front of a tree-lined track set up to test-drive electric vehicles, LaHood also expressed his appreciation for the industry's willingness to move forward on developing more fuel efficient vehicles after years of fighting tighter standards.
"We have made progress that was never possible before thanks to the industry and thanks to the leadership of President (Barack) Obama," he said.
A congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also toured the show, where a host of new electric, hybrid and small cars were among the highlights.
But while the new vehicles are impressive, they still represent only a tiny fraction of the actual industry, cautioned IHS Global Insight analyst Rebecca Lindland.
"They're going to try to show the visiting dignitaries -- the people from Washington who are going and the journalists and American consumer -- that they are 'listening' so they're bringing out more green cars," Lindland told AFP.
But she noted that in terms of sales, hybrid vehicles only went from 2.4 to 2.7 percent market last year.
While there's a lot of talk about green cars, consumers simply do not want hyper hybrids and the industry will have to focus on improving the fuel efficiency of their standard offerings, she said.
GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, who has long railed against the fact that Washington did not offer the auto industry the same kind of support received by rivals in Asia and Europe, welcomed the newfound attention.
"Since they basically own two US automobile companies, they probably would logically think that it's a good thing to see how their investment is doing," Lutz told reporters Sunday.
"It took the financial failure of the American automobile industry to make the whole country aware of the importance of the American automobile industry... but I personally very much welcome where we are at."
GM chairman Ed Whitacre last week acknowledged that the automaker had a lot of work to do to repair its "strained" relations in Washington.
On Monday, he gave Pelosi and a handful of congressmen a tour of GM's offerings, including the upcoming plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt.
"What we saw here today was vibrant, optimistic leadership to leapfrog over the competition and to keep America number one," Pelosi said following the tour, which also included stops at Chrysler and Ford.
"We've been impressed. We're optimistic. We have confidence in what was accomplished and we'll be back again next year."
Pelosi dismissed critics, including a handful of protesters who stood outside in the snow to show their dismay at the government bailout, for failing to understand the importance of the US auto industry to both economic and national security.
"It's about America's innovation, our entrepreneurial thinking and our competitiveness worldwide," she told reporters.
"Our hopes are riding on the auto industry succeeding in our country and we thank all those who are making the progress possible."
