PODCAST:
Sept. 1, 2026 ~ WJR’s Director of Community Affairs and News Marie Osborne has her latest “America 250: Michigan Made” piece on the auto industry bail out.
DETROIT, MICH. ~ In 2009, two of Detroit’s big three automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, stood on the brink of collapse. As the financial crisis took its toll, auto sales plunged nearly 40%.
“By December 2008, the outgoing Bush administration approved the first emergency loans, about $17.4 billion, to keep GM and Chrysler alive long enough for the incoming administration to decide their fate,” Osborne said on Focus.
U.S. President Barack Obama launched the Auto Task Force in January 2009, ultimately committing about $80 billion in loans and restructuring support through the Troubled Asset Relief Program known as TARP. Changes came with the money, including new leadership and bankruptcy for both companies.
While the cost for taxpayers ran up to $10 billion, the intervention saved 1.5 million jobs, helping stabilize the biggest industry in Michigan in the short term.
