Bob Corker goes to the North American International Car Show

Paul Sancya/Associated Press
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., sits in the Cadillac Converj concept as GM Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn looks on at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Tuesday. The Converj contains the same hybrid powertrain as the Chevrolet Volt.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said Tuesday he doesn't regret voting against a bailout for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC last month because he and other Republicans had a plan to help the carmakers succeed.

Corker met with GM officials at the North American International Auto Show, where he looked at the models the automaker says are key to its future health now that the Treasury Department has allocated $13.4 billion in loans to keep the company alive.

The Tennessee Republican said he was "impressed" with the Chevrolet Volt electric car, which is due in showrooms next year.

"Being here makes me even more committed to working to make sure these companies change their capital structure to get these products to market," he said.

Corker said it's too early to tell whether the aid granted to GM, along with $4 billion to Chrysler, is enough to keep the companies from failing later.

Read the entire story HERE.

The auto world may shift into the South and away from Detroit

Southern politicians have spent years luring foreign automakers to build cars in their states, with huge success. Most recently, Tennessee attracted a $1 billion Volkswagen assembly plant to Chattanooga. South Carolina has BMW. Mississippi landed a major plant for Toyota Motor Corp. Alabama boasts plants run by Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.

It's not that Southerners are secretly wishing for the Big Three to collapse. But if those automakers were to falter, the new players are poised to ramp up production and possibly turn the South into the next Detroit.

"In the long run, having fewer competitors or weaker competitors is generally a good thing," said Efraim Levy, a senior auto industry analyst with Standard & Poor's. "It would contribute to a greater relative strength in the South."

Read the entire story in the Tennessean newspaper.