The General Is Motorin'

General Motors reached a milestone of sorts today when it paid back all $6.7 billion it borrowed from the United States government - not to mention $1.4 billion owed to the Canadian government - five years ahead of schedule, putting it on a sounder footing for the immediate future. As it struggles to regain a respectable share of the North American auto market, the taxpayers' remaining interest in GM - $45.3 billion in stock -will eventually be offered for sale. If GM's new products are strong sellers in the showrooms, that could be sooner rather than later.

Thanks to CEO Ed Whitacre, the General is a leaner and more efficient car company, having terminated several brands (RIP, Pontiac and Saturn) and sold Saab. Chevrolet remains the entry-level division, Buick is the medium-priced brand, and Cadillac remains the luxury brand, with GMC Truck the choice of people who wouldn't be caught dead in a Chevy SUV. In Europe, GM still has Opel, whose German engineering is already having a positive effect on Buick's products as the technology gets spread around.

I saw several GM cars at the auto show in New York earlier this month, and while I remained a die-hard Volkswagen enthusiast, I left the GM displays rather impressed. (Actually, I left Cadillac disappointed, realizing that the XLR two-seater had been discontinued, but that's another story.) They have some very formidable product, especially with the electrically powered Volt, which is miles ahead of the Toyota Prius, and I hope Buick builds the GS version of its new Regal. These cars are among the most modern and advanced vehicles GM has offered in a long time, and a happy coincidence of events - a new health care law that benefits its workers, debts wiped out in bankruptcy, corporate restructuring - have made the company more competitive.

Never has they saying that what's good for General Motors is good for the country been more true. Although folks like Senator Bob Corker, Republican of foreign-transplant-car-factory-rich Tennessee (VW is building a plant there too: full disclosure!), opposed this bailout, there were 77,000 good reasons to support it. That's the number of jobs saved by the government's action.

Having saved automobile manufacturing in this country, the government now ought to turn to developing more regional public transit.