Yesterday the Ford Motor Company announced it earned almost a billion dollars during the last quarter, a surprising result and quite a turnaround for a company that had posted losses since 2005. Company officials attributed the third quarter results to a boost in sales from the Cash for Clunkers program, aggressive cost controls and problems its rivals seem to be having. If a billion dollars seems like a lot, that profit came on sales of more than $30 billion, a profit of about 3 percent.

Ford gained market share from its rivals and was able to save about $300 million in labor and associated cost through concessions made by union workers. Company officials provided a bullish outlook for the next two years but warned sales in Europe will be affected due to an even larger "clunker" program in the EU, one that will temporarily cause a demand spike but will steal demand in future years — exactly what happened here.

Contrast that news with a report from the Government Accounting Office yesterday. The GAO said it was doubtful the United States Treasury Department would ever be able to recover the entire $80 billion they lent to General Motors and Chrysler. According to the Associated Press, American taxpayers, through the Treasury, currently own about 61 percent of GM and 10 percent of Chrysler. Both companies would have to attain values considerably higher than ever achieved for the Treasury to break even.

GM is working hard to return to profitability and a spokesman said he hoped we'd see a return on our investment. Chrysler officials declined comment but there is every indication Fiat Group SpA is doing the same. The Obama administration said it is confident we'll recover the bulk of our investment.

We hope so. We are all for the United States auto industry; we wish Ford, GM and Chrysler success. Ford has enjoyed one quarter in a row of profitability, and it's still early in the game, but their turnaround without any bailout dollars is remarkable.