this is the new gm. we put $100 million into gm ventures. it sounds like a private equity firm. we don't have all of the answers. you have the entrepreneurs with their life and soul and their grandmother's inheritance. they invest everything and they live and die with that. i like that intensity. we get the opportunity to kind of walk around the technology and see if it has an auto application. the corporation was picked up in your papers here. that is a promising technology. we don't know if it is industrialized yet. >> it is a company that claims to have made a break through in energy density in car batteries. >> yes. lithium-ion. it is a lot of weight and gives 16 kilowatts of energy. what does that do? the battery can run a lot further. instead of 40 miles, maybe 140 miles. so, i believe in my lifetime and technology, there is an ever escalating improvement. you have to be optimistic about it that battery technology will improve in the next 20 to 25 years. >> a mix of fuels as opposed to one. >> yes. i think the crowning, the holy grail, if you will, is the fuel cells. we ha

>> this is the new gm. rather than sit in the corner and be extrapolate, we want to be part of the solution. we do not want to be part of the problem. we live in this country. i have grandchildren and children and i want them to inherit a better earth than we did. i think, quite frankly, our generation, in 1970, the epa was put in the water. the air and water is cleaner than i was growing up in the '60s. it should be cleaner than the next year. we will not get there for free. i don't think a huge manufacturer such as general motors or any other company cannot be part of the solution and that's what our goal is to be. so, we were active participants. we weren't dragged to it. >> not because the government owns 27% of gm? you could not sue your boss so you had to go along? >> what he said. [ laughter ] >> so, cafe mileage standards were basically flat for 25 years. from 2010 to 2025, they will double from about 28 miles a gallon to 55 miles a gallon. here in california, there is a law to decrease the carbon i

>> so gm just had a good year. where is it now? where are you trying to take the company in the years ahead? >> actually, we had the best year ever we had. we posted record profits. i hope that's not the only applause we get. where are we today? you know, i've been ceo of a couple companies, as you mentioned. income private equity actually helped coming into this industry. first i was criticized for not being a car guy. and that's okay. there are three noncar guys in detroit today. and i think it's the first time in 20-odd years since all three of the major american manufacturers are profitable. we had to go through some difficult times. and there's been a lot of political dialogue on that to and froe, anti-and pro. where we are, we are at the two year hiatus, general motors is the largest auto manufacturer in the world. as i said, we had the most profitable year. between '10 and '11 alone, we grew revenue $15 billion. that will put us in the fortune 250. so our revenue today is about $150 billion which would be larger than the gro

. >> there must be some people inside gm, you sell cars. if people rent a car, that is bad for production. >> there are people like that. [ laughter ] >> i'm sure they are sitting around saying there are guys like dan that got us into this thing. you know -- >> bill ford was here recently. he said it will happen whether we like it or not. we might as well be part of it. companies are always interested in young consumers. they may pick their iphone over a car. you have to think about that. bringing the cloud into the car. >> yes, we are very interested in that. >> i have seen advertisements that are more about the entertainment and console than the car itself. it is more about the entertainment experience than the car itself. that seems like an interesting approach to sell the entertainment value of the car. >> i don't know what you are getting at, but we put it in a brand band of entertainment. we don't want to jeopardize the safety on the road. i will tell you, i have been going down the road and i see people come over. they say it is dist

. >> you mentioned gm ventures. gm ventures invested in car sharing, i believe with, relay ride. like to talk about the future of car sharing and automobiles as a service mobility as a service, not something that people buy and own. >> we're in the mobility business at the end of the day. you step back at it and you don't know what shape or form that mobility will take place. we're looking at atutonomous cars. we're trying to look at everything. we can't afford to run around with blinders saying we're going to build just trucks. we're going to build every segment of the market and we're going to try to be the best and most efficient question in every segment of the market. well, if it evolves to a zip car type or a pier to pier type application that relay cars represents, we want to be part of it. we have a unique technology and onstar where we can enable that. if you own a car and want to make it available to me and rent it to me at 250 a day, they want to take this to all 50 states. we want to be an enabler. nothing do you in this world satisfies everybody. i was criticized for

gm's ceo says the new gm tries to be more tuned in to what the customer wants. and aims to better understand trends with more pointed in depth research. >> and 2011 it was within 103 history, two and a half years out of bankruptcy. we have our issues. boy say it's a sports analogy, baseball, we're in about second, third ining and there are tl is a lot of work to do. >> gm entered hybrid market last year with the chevy volt. production is being suspended for five weeks beginning this month to reduce inventory. and there is demand less than expected. he believes sales dropped off because a national transportation safety board report on a volt be crash got political. he says adjusting production is no big deal. >> there is the number one selling car in america called chevy cruise, november, 10. and it outsold honda, toyota. in the compact category. in november, we closed plants in ohio two weeks to match inventory with production. >> he says gm paid back the $25 billion bailout but the government owns a stake in the company. >> this is, i think, a success. what pat

>> this is the new gm. rather than sit in the corner and be extrapolate, we want to be part of the solution. we do not want to be part of the problem. we live in this country. i have grandchildren and

i like gm better than ford because gm is your play on china and more of a global play. so i think though that i think the auto parts company have more leverage. >> dan? >> i think a huge thing is going to be a nat gas play. who comes out and has more exposu exposure. forget about the hybrid vehicles. i think ford's probably going to be at the forefront of that. having said that, i'd still rather buy a vwa or dun over the automakers. >> what about you, steve weis? >> the inventories on the trucks are building up. that's a highly profitable segment. i think you may have to be a little more caution. i've bought two cars in the last two month months. >> they're sending him cars now. they're going to send him a phone. today, a car. what next, steven? >> i was going to say -- >> better than having a white wagon like showing up on your door. >> i was going to say raise your hand if either of them was a ford or a gm. >> actually, no. >> i do have a gm suburban, i love it. family truck for that. we're going to move on to pops and drops. finisar popping 2%. >> this was a drop ear

theoretically, gm can work out and banks papering you back with interest.he homes with bottomless pit as the homes go down. probably like why it's going to take ten years out of the fannie mae. we're insuring-- >> 70% of the mortgages. >> and to walk away from it slowly. >> matt, the final word on this. i think what should happen. they should have realized this and told us the truth. it would cost a couple hundred billion dollars to fix the issue and cut the cord right then. julian is right. you can't cut the cord now and we're stuck. the government is stuck and it's going to hit probably 3, 400 billion ten years from now and coming out of our pockets. >> thanks, guys. and thank you, julian from joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> the volt, now coming to halt, at least temporarily. and bad news for gm, but it might juice up one company's profits. the  >> predictions? and matt is on the hot seat. >> well, the nasdaq hit the big 13,000 number the first time since 2000, since the tech darling, intel. and i think a 3% dividend. >> brenda: jonas bull or be

it's simple to do. >> who's behind gm on this? gm actually, give them credit despite they've gotten criticism for the volt. cng is another thing they're bringing to the table. who is behind them and could we see more people jumping in? >> certainly gm's doing it at factory level. i think you'll see chrysler do it. honda has a cng vehicle they've had on the market for a year now. and there's several different engines and models that you can convert yourself or have converted also. there's 12 to 15 models in the united states. if you look at other places in the world, europe and the far east, there are hundreds of models. it's a matter of bringing the technology into our country and starting that buildup. just like with electric cars. >> it's brian kelly. we had a stat up that said cng costst about $2.11 a gallon while regular gas is going for $3.70, we'll call it. how is the mileage for that? is it one for one? >> no difference at all on the mileage. as a matter of fact, the engine -- because the fuel is cleaner, the engine actuall

police are looking for a gold or silver gm sedan, possibly a pontiac grand prix. they also believe the car has headlight damage. jobes' fiancee says his leg is shattered. >> well, he's about 6'6", 260 pounds. big guy. so, i'm sure if it was somebody that was my height or shorter, they'd have probably been run over. they probably wouldn't have made it. >> jobes is listed in fair condition here at shock trauma. towns says he loves his construction job. he was named employee of the month on friday, just hours before the accident. kim dacey, wbal-tv 11 news. >> thank you. the driver accused of fleeing the scene after allegedly striking a boy is in custody this morning. the child was struck on sunday evening. police say the driver had several outstanding warrants fled the scene but was eventually tracked down. a man is dead after being struck by a car over the weekend. police say kimberly enders was not in the crosswalk when he was struck by a car. joshua aversano was flown to shock trauma worry later died. >> 7 people are recovering after their bus crashed in anne aru

before taking the reigns at gm in 2010 mr. ackerson was head of the local buyout from a private equity firm in washington, d.c. he was ceo of general instrument where he succeeded donald rumsfeld and then ceo as nextel. join me in welcoming dan ackerson to

the deal will help gm take a 7% stake in the french company. >> both companies have been struggling in a cutthroat european market. they hope it will make them more competitive. >> the plan is for gm's european unit to share architectures and production platform. the new alliance is also for efficiencies in purchasing, such as raw materials. project's overall target a savings of 1.5 billion euros every year. >> they want to improve cost position. they have a long history, so i'm pretty sure that it will be a successful venture between the two companies. >> but these are two unequal partners. in 2011, general motors regained the title of world's biggest car maker with 9 million vehicles sold. with some 3.5 million units, psa is a lot smaller. for opel the alliance opens new possibilities. analysts say it could collaborate couldpsa, -- collaborate with psa, but it could also mean cutbacks. it is a secret that gm is looking to close production sites in europe. >> audi said profits soared last year. business was good especially for audi in china. for 2012, the chief executive expects earni

i'm all for gm doing this, it's great. good tore them and let's not do it without the government getting involved and mucking things up. >> there are some issues here, where do you find a gas station, it's going to take some time for this market to really get traction. >> i don't think it's taking them out of the way in gas station. and i will say it's a third less, with natural gas at like all time lows, it's going to take one hurricane before it's going to cost five times as much to fill up the natural gas cars, and look-- the old days. >> natural gas is a great american resource and doesn't make sense to have it in cars, it could make sense in possibly in buses and makes a lot of sense to pipe it somewhere like a generator, but to put it in your car, it doesn't compare well to gasoline and honda can't pull this off. making a natural gas car for years and pulled off hybrids. and they're not going to pull off. something that the japanese have not pulled off yet. it's not going to happen. >> mike, mike, what do you think a

ravens' gm ozzie newsome was asked about manning a couple of weeks ago at the nfl combine. ozzy said, the ravens are happy with joe flacco. >>> more coming up and an update on the orioles. plus my conversation with manager buck showalter in sarasota, florida. >> thanks, mark. looking forward to it. >>> the blood of taxpayers in michigan is boiling after a lottery winner gets caught using food stamps to pay for groceries. amanda says she needs her $200 a month public assistance because she's not working. she said after buying a house and a car with her winnings, there wasn't enough to pay her bills. >> no. i won a million. but i won a million. then after the lump sum, it was $700,000. and after taxes, it was over half. >> reporter: michigan lawmakers are working on a bill that would keep lottery winners from getting state assistance. >> i think she needs a financial planner. that might be what she needs. >>> still to come tonight on wjz eyewitness news.

so we were investing, i mean, this is the new gm, with a $100 million in the gm ventures.sounds like a private equity firm, doesn't it? we don't have all the answers, and you have these entrepreneurs, these wonderful entrepreneurs that their life and the soul and their grandmother's inheritance, they invest in everything and they live and die with that. i like that intensity, and look at the opportunity to kind of walk around the technology and see if it has automotive application. so here in california, i think is picked up in your papers you, that's a very promising technology. we'll go if if it's industrialized yet but we have seen the money -- >> we should clarify, it's a comfy claims it made a breakthrough in energy density and car batteries spent lithium ion. so we're excited because the batter in the volt is a 400-pound battery. that's a lot of weight. it gives you 16 kilowatts of energy. what happens if it's four times as dense? 64 kilowatts. what does that do? the battery can run a lot further instead of 40 miles it will run maybe 140 miles. and so i believe, my l

and it was at a hearing at this committee where gm testified they're now the in

are people buying gms drive a peugeot platform or people buying 0 gm platform? >> the potential there is very clear. what you have to look at in regards to the offerings gm europe has is a very similar kind of portfolio vehicle. >> so there are clear synergies there. there may be synergies existing underneath. what people forget is they go into the vehicles and a lot are common between vehicles. if you imagine the tires, for example, a tire of a specific shape and size with fit a multitude and hundreds have exactly that same kind of function. of course going forward this is something to maximize. >> when you look at this, which of the automakers that are best positioned to take part in the trends that you have already talked about and in terms of lowering their costs at the moment, who are the winners here on a global perspective? >> it's obviously the majors mainly because they have the leverage and the cost of scale to be able to ensure they it continue to buy the right price for them. so certainly when you look at manufacturers such as volkswagen, for example

also a big stall for gm. is it a sign that the big bet on electric is about to just run out of gas. stay with us to find oit. you have to dig a little. fidelity's etf market tracker shows you the big picture on how different asset classes are performing, and it lets you go in for a closer look at areas within a class or sector that may be bucking a larger trend. i'm stephen hett of fidelity investments. the etf market tracker is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. >>> check out dunkin' donuts ticker. the stock is up 17% year-to-date. the donut chain is putting the emphasis on dunk by making lebron james their new pitch man in china. they already have 150 stores in china but wants to open another hundred over the next couple years. the donut chain is also adding new flavors that might be more palatable for the chinese market such as pork donuts. nearly 4 billion prescriptions meantime were filled out last year. and now there's a big battle brewing over where you can get them filled and how

voek wag volkswagen more than gm? >> $21.1 billion. that's more than the $7.6 billion that gm made.th in europe and china. also audi has been a huge success for this company. that profit for audi is about $6.9 billion. you compare that with gm and cadillac, cadillac only sold about 200,000. they sold 1.38 million audis last year. >> if europe slows down even more this year, doesn't that hurt car makers like a vw? >> it hurts all of them, but vw is the best insulated automaker of everybody. germany is the best market over there. it's the one that saw a market share increase last year. sales went up. volkswagen is number one there. because of that, they're in a better position especially with the luxury brands. it's the mass brands. the chevys, the fords, and the vws that are down. but the luxury brands, they are still up in europe. >> let me switch gears. i was astounded at how the leaf vehicle has just -- nobody talks about it anymore. i mean, let's talk about this new prius model which goes on sale today. hybrids. is there still a demand out there? >> not as much as there used to b

gm outsold vw last year, but why was vw far more profitable?here they were selling and what they were selling mandy. if you look at the gm profit pablt versus volkswagen, volkswagen ended up net profit-wise being three times more profitable than general motors. people say they're both strong in china. where is the difference? if you look at europe, particularly germany, they're stronger there and in south america. you take some of the outliers around the world as well and put that together with the audi brand, which is incredibly powerful last year, that's where you see the strength for volkswag volkswagen. >> is audi the secret to their success? zoo >> it's the most powerful brand. it's the 16th best seller brand in the world in 2011. brought in $6.9 billion and compare it with cadillac. it's the 52nd best sell r brand. there's no comparison. vw with audi selling 1.3 million audis and about 200,000 caddies for general motors. those are the more profitable cars, mandy. >> that begs the question. do you think there's a point in time in the next

at gm and chrysler paid back their loans. people are going back to work. you have gm, ford and chrysler operating on three shifts because of consumer demand. i have never heard him saying, is it not great that the companies are doing well? is it not great that people are back to work? >> how is it that the governor of michigan can endorse someone who keeps trumping the fact he was opposed to the auto industry bailout and will not acknowledge that it is working. how does the governor of the state endorse that guy? >> there is not a republican candidate that supported helping the domestic industry. if one is objective, i believe that romney would be the strongest candidate against obama in the fall. i think the governor wants to see republicans win. that is probably the reason that he did endorse governor romney. >> what is your sense of why santorum is surging? you said that he is playing to the tea party. so is romney. they are fighting each other on how far right they can get. why is santorum making this race so close in michigan? >> i am trying to figure

i mean, gm's alive. ge's alive too. >> gm's -- >> how do you handle those facts on the ground? >> you handle the facts with the fact. and the fact of the matter is that that was the easy call to make. the tougher call was letting the market actually do what markets are supposed to do and pick the winners and losers instead of the government coming in and taking 30% of a private company, kicking the the bondholders out and having them lose their hard-earned investments -- >> is that the pitch of the republican party? >> no, it's not the pitch, but it's the facts. you don't want to deal with the facts, just like health care. you want to have a special program when i'm not here, so i've got to get it in now. and the other point, chris -- >> did you see batman when the guy kept coming in from the other channel, interrupting life there. the joker. let's just stay on the subject. there was some big news today, michael, we were trying to cover it. the vice president gave a big speech in toledo. the president gave a big speech on energy. i want to cover these facts. >> but what did he

gm promises to invest $1 billion in manufacturing in australia.retty big moves going on down under. >> no doubt. ashley morrison here in new york. thank you. >>> straight ahead, your thursday morning weather. in sports, the deal looked shaky for a while but this morning tim tebow is a jet all the way. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. >>> here's a look at today's forecasts in some cities around the country. new york, mostly sunny, 80. miami, partly sunny, 83. chicago, afternoon showers, 74. dallas, partly cloudy, 69. l.a., partly sunny, 68. >>> now for a check of the national forecast. rain and thunderstorms will stream north from the lower mississippi valley. severe thunderstorms and po

the gm at the time was bruce allen.cted the nfl to lay down major punishments for bounty gate. but the discipline ended up being more severe than many of us originally thought. defensive coordinator has been accused of implementing a pay for pain scheme. he paid players money for big hits that injured opponents or knocked them out of the game. the entire organization including coaches and front office were also investigated for knowing about the scheme that was in place. here's what the sledge hammer, the league brought down on the saints. fined several hundreds and thousands of dollars, lose two draft picks, the league suspended sean payton for one year, and gregg williams is with the rams has been suspended indefinitely. the redskins, however, have been cleared of any involvement in bounty scheme. also today was announced that denver broncos traded tim tebow to the new york jets for a fourth round pick. that trade hit a snag because of money. over $5 million the broncos want in exchange. now jacksonville is reportedly

i made parts for gm and ford vehicles, but when the rekregsz hit, the company went under in 2009. i was laid off just like a lot of other people were around here in the quad cities. for the next six months, my full-time job was looking for a job. i would get up every morning, send out applications and resumes, just continue to look for a job every day. a little more than two years ago, i was hired here at pct engineering as a full-time machinist. now i wake up every morning and i come to work and i make parts for manufacturers in our industry. [ applause ] in other words i make things that help other folks make things and that is why the manufacturing jobs are so important and i and vice president biden understand. [ applause ] what happens in one stator one city or one plant matters all the way down our supply chain here in america, those jobs that help support our communities, the stores, the shops, the restaurants in which all of us spend our salaries. we're all connected and we're all in this together. [ applause ] the economy is much better now than what it was when i got lai

gm mickey lewis on the right. they knew about the team's bounty pool.oordinator greg williams admits to running it. he met with the league and the league likely asked about reports from similar polls when he was with the redskins and bills. >>> three years in prison for the phillies outfielder lenny dix straw. he pleaded not guilty to grand theft auto and a false statement. prosecutors say he gave bogus entertainment to get credit and lease cars. >>> seems like a sportsmanlike thing to do, right? british olympic hopefuls are being told not to shake hands. britain olympic medal teams are issuing the warning so the athletes may get sick. any type of mild illness could hurt their chances of success. the olympics will be held in the summer. >>> coming up on fox and friends giant's wide receiver mario manningham. you should stay around. >>> a national center known as atheists around new york and new jersey. >> we are not trying to inflame or enrage anybody but we do veefsh the right to add ties to atheists as we see fit. >> as you can image it is creating co

can gm power profits with natural gas trucks? or does the chevy volt prove that the demand still isn't there for clean cars. >>> and bull case for las vegas sands, why you should bet on the stock that's up 28% this year. welcome to the report. lots of trade and let's start doing it. dr. j, are you overly concerned with what's going on in china, given the fact that they lowered their growth expectations to 7.5%? >> no. the main reason i'm not overly concerned about that, scott, is that china, i don't really believe what china says, whether it's bullish or bearish. so i pay attention to what, when they speak and obviously it does move markets, so i react to your note. but as far as would i pay attention to it, for anything more than moments in time, no, so i think that they'll say what they need to say. no matter what it might be. i don't want to invest based on what china says about its economy. >> joe, what are you doing in the market today? >> silver. gold, still short the futures, i think that's the right trade. think much abou

meanwhile chrysler and gm will announce production of pickup trucks powered by natural gas this week. however, gm is pausing production of its plug-in hybrid volt for five weeks due to slow sales. >>> over the weekend united airlines angered thousands of customers when technical glitches during its merger with continental caused widespread problems. >> aig is selling $6 billion of asian life insurer aia to help repay its u.s. bailout. >>> proflowers.com is the seventh advertiser to drop conservative radio host rush limbaugh despite his apology for derogatory comments about a law student who testified about birth control policy. >>> and, finally, cigar sales in cuba are on fire. six hand-made humidors sold for just under a million bucks. >>> well, coming up, the celtics rally in overtime, a record game for the nets, and a new top dog in the world of golf. >>> plus, the masked avenger strikes again. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> after all the chaos last week from the tornados, we're off to a nice start this week, nice and tranquil weather. your forecast is

gm fell short of expectations of selling 10,000 last year. the same dynamic may be at work with -- that cost other programs to fail. >> the idea that we're going to create employment through subsidizing alternative energy has to now be confined to the humor department. we have too many examples of the firms going out of business because the cost of what they produce wasn't worth the value to the market. >> spokesman for gm said even with sales up in february over january were still seeking to line production with demand. but now president obama included in this budget, a proposal to up the tax credit for purchase of an electric vehicle, not just the volt, to $10,000 a credit. clearly an effort by the administration to reward movement to green vehicles. but critics say it's an admission that these vehicles can't make it on their own without manipulation of the marketplace. in washington, doug, fox news. >> as a parent, you are careful about every children's medication, so imagine finding out your child was accidentally given cancer drugs. cvs

gm recognizes that natural gas is the fuel of the future because we have way too much of the stuff.nd, also, because diesel has become super-expensive. it's only getting more expensive. not only that, gm has figured out that it doesn't matter how much the government subsidizes electric cars. not just because of the problems with the volt. we haven't developed a mass way to make electric cars pay for themselves. they can't go far, they can't be serviced effectively and there's no way to dispose of the batteries. meanwhile, hybrid natural gas trucks can pay for themselves after fewer than two years even if gm extorts higher prices for the machines. more important, businesses recognize we have no control over energy sources under president obama. many believe the administration favors higher oil prices as an umbrella for the use of alternative energy. the sierra club has turned on natural gas. with the diesel and the natural gas cost ratio of 16-1, with a possible savings of more than two bucks a gallon, with a chance to avoid gas lines through your potential war between iran and israe

>> stole money from stock and bondholders in gm and gave that money to the uaw.ocally gave that transfer of wealth. >> and chrysler, i don't know do we do it with chrysler? we did it with chrysler with lee iacocca, crappy cars. >> and we want american cars on the world market. and left up to eric and the-- >> one more thing you would have cars built in america and in detroit it wouldn't have a gm flag. probably would have been a ford flag. >> owned by the germans or the koreans. >> what george clooney is doing, a blatant employ to the career because he's so homely he needs to adopt political stances to keep him alive in hollywood, he's a hideous hideous man. >> george is so nice. >>'s' one of most popular actors. >> just kidding. >> just kidding. >> and fire up your-- so, this segment i want it call baby you want to put some gas in my car? sorry, you can't gas prices are too high. axlerod is jumping into the frey and calling them snake oil salesman trying to demonize the thing about dwas and including newt gingrich in this as well with his 2.50 gas and take a loo

whether it's relay cars, we'll look at anything that people say, well, why would gm do that? well, i think bill ford's right. it's going to happen -- we can't control the universe. we're a country. we have to react to reality. we want to predict the future so we can be proactive. so i don't know if it's going to be electric and infused into the architecture of a home or if it's going to be natural gas. i don't think anybody is going to be putting nuclear reactors on cars any time soon. but if they did, we'd start thinking about it. >> do you have a charging volt charging station in your garage? >> yes, i do and i love it. i'll tell you, i have now driven probably -- i had one of the first volts and what we call a captured test fleet. i drove it for 2,500 miles and i put one eighth tank of gas in it. and one man drove it 13,000 and he has the initial gas he got when he bought the car. so on your volt it tells you how much you've gotten. i mean, with the volt i bought about a month ago, i have now used a tenth of a gallon of gas. and so, you know, you're averaging 90 to 100 mil

everyone inside this gm plant outside detroit sent home, 18 months they were out of work.ight, they're back. >> this is all the rear seats. and the air bags in the back. >> reporter: looks good. just tonight, we learned a plant in tennessee hiring 800 more jobs on the line, for the passat, made in america. but there are still major hurdles, among them, younger drivers. the 1960s american teens and they eye dent tips were driven by their cars. >> move into the cool world of mustang. >> reporter: there was albert and his girlfriend who just hated how he was treated. >> i wonder whatever happened to him. >> albert's a mustanger now. >> reporter: 40 years later and automakers are more determined than ever. perhaps you remember this ad, it made headlines because it was aimed directly at younger drivers. but look at this. they are shifting gears. in 1998, 64% of americans 19 and younger had drivers lie senses. ten years later, just 46% have them. and 46% of young drivers say they would choose internet access over owning a car. which is why ford is now turning to facebook, trying

whether it's relay cars or why would gm do that? i think they are right. it's going to happen and we can't control the universe. we have to react to reality and we want to predict the future so we can be proactive. i don't know if it will be electric and infused into the architecture of the home and it's going to be natural gas. i don't think they will put nuclear reactors on cars, but if they did, we would think about it. >> do you have a charging station in your garage? >> yes and i love it. i have had one of the first volts of the captured test fleet. i drove for 2,500 miles and put 0.8 of a gallon of gas into it. we talked to 40 plus owners today and there was one fellow who had driven it 12 months ago in the 13,000 miles and still has the initial gas that he got when he bought the car. on your volt it tells you how much you have got. with the volt i bought about a month ago, i have now used 0.1 of a gallon of gas. you are averaging 100 miles equivalent on these cars. that's good news and if you can get the density up instead of going 40 miles, you wil