Interview With Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC

The President: It's great to be at this historic Ford plant that, for over nine years, has been putting out some of the best products in the world. And, you know, what we want to highlight was that American manufacturing and the American auto industry can and will succeed.

Andrea Mitchell: How do you feel about the fact that Ford was able to rebuild its business without a bailout?

The President: Well, the interesting thing is, if you talk to Ford's CEO, he'll tell you that, if GM had been liquidated, if Chrysler had been liquidated, that could have been a crisis for the entire industry, including Ford, because all those suppliers would have been lost and the brand of the American auto industry would have really been greatly diminished.

Now, Ford made some good decisions that put it in a better position than some of its American competitors, particularly around their financing situation. So Ford's to be congratulated.

What I'm excited about is the fact that Ford is doing what GM and Chrysler are both doing which is they are retooling for the future.