Scootered,
All of those automobile plants are still up and running, and they are building more. Why did you think that they closed down? Texas is getting the lion's share of them.
According to yesterday's Wall Street Journal, the F-150, made in Texas, is once again the number 1 selling vehicle America. The Toyota Camry is no. 2, made in Kentucky.
I talked to the Hino executives several years ago as to why they were building their new truck plants in the U.S., instead of Mexico. Let's face it, labor is super cheap down there.
They said that in Mexico, you must constantly have on your payroll at least 125% of the workforce that you need to run the plant. Why? Because every other Friday is payday, and the workers go on a 3 day beer drunk. Monday morning, a huge percentage of them don't show up for work. Therefore you have to have enough workers employed so that if only 80% show up, you still have enough people to run the production line. Plus, even the dumbest American laborers are geniuses compared to Mexican laborers.
Mannyrock