Thriving American Auto Industry Outside Motor City

Investors Business Daily looks at the thriving American Auto Industry — no not the one in excessively-taxed and forced-unionism dominated Michigan but the lower-taxed Right to Work Tennessee:

President Obama triumphantly told the United Auto Workers last month that car manufacturing in America is back, thanks to the federal GM (GM) and Chrysler bailouts. In Tennessee, the reaction was: Don’t call it a comeback — we’ve been here for years.

Michigan may be Motor City’s home in most people’s minds, but Tennessee has emerged as another major hub of auto manufacturing and related industries. Big domestic and foreign automakers have several facilities here and are expanding rapidly.

Tennessee, one of many Super Tuesday GOP primary states, has mostly been spared the trauma of mass layoffs, closures and bailouts that plagued the Rust Belt. Business and free-market groups cite a key advantage: It is a right-to-work state, effectively preventing Big Labor from being a major player there.