The auto industry is a major contributor to national and global economies. In the United States, total spending on new vehicles represents 4 percent of GDP – or over $500 billion. The industry employs millions of people in relatively well-paying jobs. In the United States, for example, the compensation of automakers' employees is 73 percent higher than the average for private hourly production.
In the United States in 2006, approximately 1.1 million people worked directly for automakers and parts suppliers. Direct auto manufacturer, dealer and supplier employment totals about 2 percent of U.S. employment. No other single industry is more linked to U.S. manufacturing or generates more retail business and employment. Indirectly, the auto industry supports jobs and economic benefits through related employment at dealers, suppliers and service shops and through the expenditures of people employed by those industries, accounting for 7.5 jobs for each job at an automaker. Similarly, in India, the "multiplier effect" of the auto industry has been estimated at 12 to 35 jobs in backward and forward linkages for each person employed directly in the auto industry.
Motor vehicles and auto parts represent the single largest export sector in the United States, with $96.7 billion worth exported in 2006. The auto industry also leads U.S. manufacturing industries in the level of research and development investment, spending more than $17 billion in the United States in 2005.
