Hi everybody. Seven years ago, the American auto1 industry was on the brink2 of collapse3. Plants were closing. Hundreds of thousands of workers were getting laid off from jobs that had been their ticket to a middle-class life. And as the pain spread across the country, another one million Americans would have lost their jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis4 of our lifetimes.
Some said it was too late to turn things around. But I refused to turn my back on so many of the workers that I'd met. Instead, I placed my bet on American workers. I placed my bet on American manufacturing. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We said the auto industry would have to truly change, not just pretend that it did. We got labor5 and management to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool6 and restructure. Everyone had some skin in the game.
Our plan wasn't popular. Critics said it was a "road to socialism," or a "disaster" waiting to happen. But I'd make that bet again any day of the week. Because today, the American auto industry is back. Since our plan went into effect, our automakers have added more than 640,000 new jobs
