U.S. auto industry almost back to healthy in 2011

This final note on the way out. Were this a regular first workin’ day of the month, we’d have been informed as to the relative health — or continued problems — of the American auto industry. Those numbers usually come out on the 1st. We’ll get ’em Wednesday this month.

Best guesses are Detroit did pretty well in 2011 — almost 13 million cars and trucks sold last year. A healthy car market, the experts say? About 14 million.