Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/auto-industry-shows-small-signs-of-recovery-at-annual-detroit-show Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript At the annual Detroit auto show, car enthusiasts were not letting the frigid weather or drab economic climate deter them. Fred de Sam Lazaro gives an update from Detroit on the state of the auto industry and its efforts to pull itself out of the slump. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Now, a pair of recession snapshots of two very different sectors of the economy. The first is the auto industry.NewsHour special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Detroit on the annual auto show.FRED DE SAM LAZARO, NewsHour correspondent: After a week of expert reviews and previews, the doors of the Detroit auto show opened this weekend to the real target of the glitzy displays and marketing gimmicks: the car-buying public.Kevin Smith braved snow and sub-zero temperatures to be here.Are you in the market for an automobile? KEVIN SMITH: Constantly. FRED DE SAM LAZARO: You're a car nut, in other words? KEVIN SMITH: Yes. FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But this 20-year General Motors veteran is looking for something much more basic than a new car. KEVIN SMITH: Like a lot of folks right now, I am unemployed looking for my next great opportunity, which hopefully will be back in the auto industry. FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The industry isn't likely to start hiring back soon. Unemployment in this city is nearly 11 percent, and far fewer people are buying cars. In fact, some prominent brands — Nissan, Infinity and Suzuki — are not even represented here.But this is the hometown of the big three, and there's no shortage of loyal customers. Even though Japanese name brands stole headlines with new models, physician Jeff Klein and his wife, Sue, shopping for a small car, will not consider them.Would you ever consider brands like Honda or Toyota? CAR SHOW ATTENDEE: Not right now, no, because we really want to buy American. We're trying to support American autoworkers, the UAW. It's very important right now. CAR SHOW ATTENDEE: We see the struggles of the industry around us. We want to help it any way we can.