Contract negotiations between Chrysler and the United Auto Workers Union kicked off on Monday, as the industry fights to stay competitive with foreign automakers. Fellow "Big Three" companies General Motors and Ford will also begin negotiations with the UAW later this week. Will the parties involved be able to reconcile their demands and reach a suitable agreement before contracts expire in mid-September? Paul Eisenstein, publisher of The Detroit Bureau, has been following the negotiations.

The American auto industry traveled a bumpy road in recent years. The big three auto makers watched their profits fall throughout the Great Recession. The Troubled Asset Relief Program saved Chrysler and General Motors from total ruin, but the American car industry was suffering long before the recession began. Bob Lutz was the vice chairman of General Motors from 2001 to 2010. His new book is "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters." He analyzes the auto industry and the culture of business.

After unexpectedly strong interest from potential investors made itself apparent, formerly-bankrupt carmaker GM raised its initial price on last night's stock offering to $33/share. This morning, the auto giant helped start off the NYSE with a Comaro's horn. Selling at $33/share should potentially net GM more than $23 billion, and allow it to pay back half of the money still owed taxpayers and the Treasury Department after last year's automaker bailout.

At a CNBC Town Hall Meeting on Monday, President Obama announced some good news coming out of Michigan: the three US automakers are making a profit for the first time in a long time.

It hasn’t been so long since the day when GM was almost synonomous with doom. But it’s been long enough, apparently, for the companies to start turning a profit — and for the Car Czar behind the recovery to write a book about how it all came to pass.

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?

One year ago today, General Motors filed for bankruptcy and became the fourth largest U.S. bankruptcy on record. President Obama vowed to turn GM around and make it a profitable company once again. We look at how GM has changed in the past year with the help of Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for IHS Global Insights, and find out how the rest of the auto industry is doing as well.

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. 

February wasn’t a bad month for everyone in the auto industry. In the midst of recalls and Congressional hearings, Toyota’s sales dropped 9 percent, while Ford's sales were up a whopping 43 percent in the same month, which makes Ford the country’s top-selling automaker. We continue our conversation about the state of the auto industry and the health of some of its major players. 

After one of the worst years for the auto industry, automakers may begin to hiring workers and offering more overtime, a possible sign of economic recovery. 

Nelson Schwartz, the European economics correspondent for The New York Times, joins us with a look at recent news from General Motors. This week, the financially strapped American car company posted its first monthly sales increase in nearly two years. With money on the books, General Motors is now reconsidering a deal to sell a majority stake in its German subsidiary, Opel.

General Motors announced yesterday that it will shut down its Saturn subsidiary. The 24-year-old brand appeared close to being saved under a deal with former race car driver and Detroit business man Roger Penske, but the deal collapsed at the last minute. We speak to Micki Maynard, business reporter for The New York Times.

When GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy, the court allowed them to prematurely end contracts with car dealers across the nation. Today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is meeting with auto makers and auto dealers as they try and work out a compensation agreement for dealers left out in the cold. Our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, talks us through the meeting.

General Motors says it will open a new plant to assemble battery packs for the soon-to-be released Chevy Volt, the company's new rechargeable electric car. The media blitz for the Volt began on Tuesday, focusing on the car's projected gas mileage (230 miles per gallon on city streets) and downplaying the car's hefty price tag ($40,000).

GM plans to open the battery plant in Wayne County, Michigan; it's expected to create 100 new jobs in the economically struggling county. We talk to New York Times auto industry reporter Nick Bunkley and Wayne County executive Robert Ficano about new cars and new jobs.

General Motors is trying something new: it's letting consumers buy new cars on the auction site eBay. Will it work? Approximately three million used cars have been sold online in the past, but to-date, no car dealer has sold new cars this way. Louise Story, financial writer for The New York Times, takes a look. We're also joined by John McEleney, chairman of the National Association of Automobile Dealers, as he explains what the GM-eBay partnership means for private dealers across the country.

On Friday General Motors emerged from bankruptcy after only forty days in Chapter 11. Now they’re trying to project the image of the “new” GM. What new cars will they roll out—and what are the company's chances of actually making a profit? Joining The Takeaway from Detroit is Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman. Lutz began his career in the auto industry in 1963 and he’s in charge of brands, marketing, advertising and communications for GM.
Click through for a transcript of our discussion with Bob Lutz.

In June, President Obama promised the nation a "New GM" as part of his administration's restructuring of the auto industry in the wake of its financial collapse. Now General Motors is expected to emerge from bankruptcy reorganization as the promised “New GM” —a partially-government-owned entity. The brand will hang on to successful lines like Chevrolet and Cadillac and let go of others. How will this "New GM" fit in with the old Detroit? The Takeaway is taking the pulse of Detroit today. We are joined by Bishop Charles Ellis of the Greater Grace Temple and WDET reporter Noah Ovshinsky.

Have your own story or thoughts on the "New GM"? Let us know!

As Treasury Department officials pore over the books of GM and Chrysler, what do they make of the millions of dollars the auto makers spend on NASCAR? Is it worthwhile marketing? Does NASCAR success translate to bottom-line profit? To answer some of these questions we turn to Gary Belsky, editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine.

President Obama's speech makes clear that the taxpayers are "reluctant shareholders" of the car giant, and even went so far to emphasize that his instructions were to treat all creditors equally. (Read: don't accuse us of favoring the UAW because we're Democrats.). So if that's right, then they are going to try to be as hands-off as possible.

But how hands-off can someone be when they're elected?

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GM executives are about to take a wild ride as the company restructures itself under bankruptcy protection. To describe how that process will work -- and if it will work -- is Mark LaNeve, GM North America’s Vice President for Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. He joins us from GM headquarters in Detroit. The Takeaway is also joined by Micheline Maynard, Auto Reporter for the New York Times to give her take on the future of GM.

For more on GM, read Law Professor John Pottow's post, How Obama Can Succeed at GM.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson apologized yesterday to all the GM workers who have sacrificed for the company. Some 550 people in Wilmington, Delaware, are among those hit by the plan to close the local GM plant. A look at the human cost of an economic decision.

Andrew Eder is a business reporter for Delaware Online and he’s here to give us some insight into how this is effecting the city.

For more on GM, read Law Professor John Pottow's post, How Obama Can Succeed at GM.