Like someone mentioned above, there are a bazillion jobs in the auto industry right now. And I'm not just referring to GM/Ford/Chrysler. There are probably more engineers employed at suppliers than there are at the OEMs. In addition to that, Nissan, Toyota, and Hyundai/Kia have R&D facilities in the area. I usually get about 10 postings from the Hyundai R&D facility every week in my daily e-mail from Monster - and that's just in my area of control systems and signal processing. Then there are the niche companies, like Roush (yes, that's the same Roush as the NASCAR team), Riccardo, etc.
The only drawback to the auto industry is that it is a bit of a roller coaster. When the economy goes bad, the first thing people do is stop buying cars so they can save money just in case they lose their job. In parts of 2008/2009 car sales dropped by nearly 50% - those type of drops are unheard of in most industries. The good news is that when recessions end, there is a lot of pent-up demand and things are great (and I mean GREAT) for a long time afterward.
Last thing, people that trash the Detroit area are those that haven't spent any significant time here. I came here thinking it would be a temporary thing: put up with it for 3-5 years to get my necessary experience to get my next job. I've been here for about 15 years now and have no desire to move anywhere else. Yeah, the downtown area isn't the greatest, but there's a positive side to that: all of the cool stuff you need to go downtown for in most cities exist here in the suburbs, so it's even closer to home. I have a handful of pilot buddies that moved here for pilot jobs, expecting the worst. Like me, most of them end up staying in the area for good, even though they don't have to.
And just think of how prevelant FIRST is around here
