U.S. Auto Industry the World's Largest Due to Investment Decisions

    ARLINGTON, Va., March 15 New investments by international
automakers have enabled the U.S. automotive industry to regain its position as
the largest automotive industry in the world, according to a study released
today by the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM).
Advantages in location, resource availability as well as the overall
efficiency of the American economy were the principal reasons for these
investment decisions, according to the study.

    Including international auto companies manufacturing cars and trucks in
the United States, the study found U.S. motor vehicle production in 1999 was
30 percent higher than Japan, the world's next largest producer.  Combined,
automakers here produced 13 million vehicles in 1999 -- 48% more than in 1991.
Production by all U.S. automakers in 1999 shattered a record that had stood
for 21 years.

    "This study documents what many have long known to be true:  that
international automakers have played, and continue to play, a key role in
revitalizing the U.S. auto industry," said Tim MacCarthy, President and CEO of
the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers.  "Recognition of
this is long overdue."

    The study was co-sponsored by AIAM and produced through the collaborative
efforts of three institutions -- the Institute of Labor and Industrial
Relations (ILIR), the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and the University
of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).  The study is titled
"Contribution of the Automotive Industry to the U.S. Economy in 1998:  The
Nation and Its Fifty States."  The findings build on an earlier study
sponsored by AIAM titled "The Contribution of the International Auto Sector to
the U.S. Economy."  This latter investigation found the international auto
sector associated with significantly greater economic activity in the United
States than previously recognized.