Although auto suppliers comprise the largest single manufacturing sector in the United States, with about 400,000 workers as of July 2009 - more than three times as many employees as automobile manufacturers themselves - this sector is also one of the country's most troubled. Indeed, that employment figure reflects a drop of 140,000 jobs in 12 months. And those job losses, unfortunately, are among the first in a radical restructuring that will rapidly change the face of the North American auto industry.
The retrenchment of the Detroit Three has pushed North American suppliers to the brink of bankruptcy.
