The Hill News

Was that President Obama sitting behind the wheel of a new Honda Civic Natural Gas vehicle at this week’s DC auto show, marveling over the only such passenger car made in America?  Nope. Did I see him take a gander at a Volkswagen that rolled off the line at the company’s Chattanooga plant in Tennessee? No, it wasn’t him. The President did make a surprise visit to the event, but he did not pay much mind to the Kia made in Georgia or the Mercedes manufactured in Alabama either.

Instead, the president focused his attention and remarks solely on traditionally defined “American” cars â€" the Big 3.  And in doing so, missed an opportunity to brag about attracting global companies to the United States. The story of global investment in the United States is part of America’s success story in the auto sector and one that politicians should crow about â€" especially during an election year.

The U.S. manufacturing operations of global auto com! panies account for 40 percent of all vehicles made in America.  And the good news is these firms have been increasing their U.S. footprint by growing American employment, investing in U.S. technology and exporting from their U.S. operations. At a time when we are looking to create goodâ€"paying jobs here, we should not overlook the very companies who are doing so simply because they are not homegrown.

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