With the announcement today that Chrysler will repay its $7.5 billion bailout loan it received from the U.S. government, the auto bailout has reached another milestone.

To get out of its credit fix, Chrysler has lined up loans of $4.3 billion and will issue $3.2 billion in bonds. Italy’s Fiat, which controls Chrysler, will kick in $1.3 billion and get 46% ownership.

Private money has stepped up, thus validating the approach taken by the Obama administration. It’s also a significant victory for all the employees at Chrysler who worked through this difficult period and came out with new versions of vehicles like the Dodge Charger pictured above and the new Chrysler 200.

The U.S. auto business continues its spectacular rebound from its near-death experience. Sure, there’s a long way to go, but this is excellent news and shows a commitment to invest in America.

Growing demand for General Motors Co. cars and trucks is pushing the Detroit automaker to add thousands of jobs and spend $2 billion to upgrade plants across the country.

GM CEO Daniel Akerson confirmed Tuesday that the company will create or preserve more than 4,000 jobs in eight states by investing heavily in 17 facilities nationwide. So far, the company has only announced millions of dollars in upgrades at plants in Toledo and Bowling Green, Ky. It is expected to release specifics about other plants during the next few months.

While much of the planned spending hinges on winning state and local tax incentives, the company says it needs to boost production and resume hiring to meet rising consumer demand.

The U.S. economy and job market needs a boost like this. Hopefully this will continue.

The domestic auto industry is doing very well, and that’s reflected in the news coming from AutoNation:

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN – News) announced that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $250 million of common stock under its existing share buyback program. This has increased the total authorized amount under the program to $395.9 million.

Last year, the automotive retailer had increased the authorization amount during May and July by $250 million each. In the first quarter of 2011, the company repurchased 1.8 million shares at an aggregate price of $58.8 million, reflecting an average price of $32.60.

During the quarter, AutoNation reported a rise in profit to $70.3 million or 46 cents per share from $58.8 million or 34 cents in the year-ago period driven by strong new and used vehicle sales. The profit exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents per share.

This is excellent news for the economy, and hopefully we’ll see gas prices start to decrease, giving Americans more disposable income.

Chrysler’s two-minute Super Bowl commercial for the new Chrysler 200 featuring scenes of Detroit and with an appearance by Eminem is getting plenty of buzz. It’s two minutes long and quite compelling. The comeback story for the company fits with the concept of a rust best city trying to come back as well. I wonder if the workers at Chrysler and GM will be sending thank you notes to President Obama for saving the companies?