Today "Government Motors" gets to be General Motors again, when the company announces its initial public offering. It's a cautious success story — the company had a $2.1 billion proffit this quarter. But is it the right time to go public? We speak with Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, which covers the auto industry, for more.

Ford has been open about its plans to phase out the massively popular Crown Victoria line in 2011, but is inviting stiff competition from both Chrysler and General Motors, who are unveiling vehicles aimed squarely at police fleets. Will Ford be able to keep the 75 percent market-share of the police cruiser market, that the Crown Victoria managed?

Barely 24 hours after announcing the company's positive second quarter earnings, GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced yesterday that he would be stepping down from the company. It was an expected move; Whitacre came out of retirement to steer the company towards better economic waters, and promised it would be a short term undertaking. But his departure took some by surprise, who expected he would stay through the company's stock offering, which should take place next week. What shape does Whitacre leave the company in? And what ahead?

During the decline of the American auto industry, thousands of people lost their jobs and the plants they once worked in were left abandoned. On Tuesday, President Obama announced a plan to spend over $800 million to clean up closed GM plants.