phil lebeau live from a plant in romulus, michigan. us off here by giving us a snapshot of the auto industry right now in america. >> reporter: far better shape than a couple of years ago, craig. you have all three of the detroit automakers profitable, a huge change from a couple of years ago, but they're far smaller than they used to be, in part because they shed so many jobs. look at the number of jobs the detroit automakers had in michigan ten years ago. more than 200,000. bottomed out in 2010, at just over 100,000. yes, it has come back 9,000 to 110,000. but overall, when you look at the upper midwest, because the auto industry is not just in michigan, it is illinois, indiana, ohio, there are plants there not only for manufacturing of cars but the parts, suppliers. look at the change particularly from four years ago. people always say listen, jobs are coming back. yes, they've come back in the last year and a half, but not to the degree of where they were four years ago. that's why when you talk with economists, particularly ones in

cnbc's phil lebeau takes a look at how automakers are cashing in on the fuel efficiency trend. >> withces at the pump above $3 a gallon, there's a new mantra in the auto industry, 40 is the new 30, as in 40 miles per gallon. this year, they've accounted for nearly 5% of new car sales. easily outdistancing electric car sales, which get far more attention, but draw far fewer sales. so what's behind the growth in 40 mpg cars? some due to increasing sales of gas/electric hybrids and that will continue as new models like the prius subcompact go on sale next year. but the big growth in the 40 mbg club is because there are more fuel-efficient cars powered entirely by gas. the chevy kruze, ford fiesta, all average over 40 miles per gallon on the highway. every automaker is planning on gas prices to stay high. so they're shifting production plans and building more models with smaller, fuel-efficient, four-cylinder engines. that are also adding turbo chargers so driving a four-cylinder car now feels more like a six-cylinder model. letting car buyers feel like they aren't skimping while they go g

from bankruptcy protection more than two years ago after receiving huge taxpayer bailouts, cnbc phil lebeau industry and joins us live from a gm plant in michigan. despite these better than expected quarter earnings, gm shares, they're tumbling today along with the rest of the market. as i understand it, gm shares down roughly about 9%. what's the big concern? where is this coming from? >> the big concern is the outlook from the company for the fourth quarter, weaker than expected, still are having problems turning a profit in europe. you combine that with the weak market overall and you have gm shares down trading in that $23 range, about $10 below the ipo price of $33. we're here in michigan not only for gm's earnings, but tonight you will have the gop debate that will be on cnbc. and part of the debate is going to be focusing on the economy here in michigan and in the midwest. and you can't talk about what's happening here in michigan without looking at the unemployment or the rate of employment by the detroit automakers and how it's changed over the last ten years. take a look at this.

phil lebeau is live in park ridge, illinois. what kind of cars are you talking about?reporter: i'm at a toyota dealership. if you look around the industry and the different dealerships, right now may be the best time to buy a new car for a number of reasons. first of all, end of the year. 20% of the vehicles out there, 2011 models. relatively reasonable financing terms out there. people are looking around saying there's a lot of demand. now is the time for me to replace the car that i should have replaced two or three years ago. today is the best day of the year in terms of discounts off the msrp when going out on to the shopping lot or dealership. look at the best deals. on average you can save 9% according to truecar.com. these are among the five most desirable discounts out there. titan, chevy malibu and jeep liberty. the discounts between 12 and 29%. it's not new to see discounts on previous year models. this year, the industry is still dealing with the aftereffects of low inventory because of the earthquake and tsunami hitting the japanese auto makers. as a result