Automakers Provide More Jobs in Supplier and Related Industries Than in Direct Manufacturing, New Study Shows

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 -- While the automobile industry continues to be America's largest manufacturing industry, the majority of those jobs are in supplier and related industries, with total auto industry and related employment numbering 13.3 million, a new Center for Automotive Research study shows. About 6.6 million jobs are connected to automotive manufacturing and new vehicle sales, generating more than $240 billion in annual private sector compensation.

"When you look under the hood of today's automobile, you'll see goods from America's greatest industries across the country," said Alliance President & CEO Josephine S. Cooper. "These include textiles from the Southeast, computer chips from California, aluminum manufactured in Iowa, and air bags produced in Arizona."

Cooper continued: "No other single industry is more linked to U.S. manufacturing or generates more retail business and employment. New vehicle production, sales and other jobs related to the use of automobiles are responsible for one out of every 10 jobs in the U.S. economy."

Key findings of the study include:

* The auto industry is responsible for more than 100,000 jobs in each of several industries, including dealerships, fabricated metals, auto parts, auto repair and maintenance, road construction, tire dealerships, fueling stations and car washes.

* The auto industry is responsible for more than 50,000 jobs in each of several other related industries, including plastics and rubber, trucking, computers and electronics, petroleum, and machinery and equipment.

* The auto industry is responsible for more than 25,000 jobs in each of several more related industries, including advertising, textiles, aluminum and recycling.

* The auto industry also provides thousands more jobs each in the rail industry, the steel industry, the painting and coating industry, the glass industry, the copper and brass industry and the iron industry.

* The auto industry provides among the highest levels of wages and benefits in the private sector, averaging $69,500 in 2001.

* The auto industry boasts an added value of $292,000 per worker, 143 percent higher than the overall value-added ratio for U.S. manufacturing ($120,000).

* The auto industry invests more in research and development than any other industry -- $18.3 billion in 2000.

* The auto industry directly employs 13.3 million Americans in all 50 states.

* 2.2 million U.S. workers are employed indirectly by auto industry suppliers and other industry-related companies.

* Expenditures of auto industry employees create an additional 3.5 million jobs nationwide.

The study, "Contribution Of The Automotive Industry To The U.S. Economy," was prepared by the Center for Automotive Research. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers sponsored the study. For more information, including state-by-state economic contribution and employment figures, log on to http://www.autoalliance.org/.