Detroit’s automakers are giving new meaning to the phrase “cyclical industry.”

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have fallen and are rising again faster than the cars on Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster. 

A little more than a year ago, it was questionable whether GM and Chrysler would even survive. Two years ago, Ford lost a record $14.8 billion.

Today, all three automakers are climbing toward another peak, with Ford leading the charge.

Ford on Tuesday reported a profit of $1.7 billion for the three months ending Sept. 30, the best third quarter in 20 years for the automaker.

Chrysler and GM also are churning out profits again after emerging from bankruptcy little more than a year ago. GM is preparing to float an initial public stock offering in November.

And the auto companies, as they have done so many times in the past, appear to be leading Michigan out of a crippling recession.

“The only source of employment growth in Michigan this year has been the auto industry,” said Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

While the state has lost a net 21,000 payroll jobs this year, it has added 5,000 auto manufacturing jobs.

McAlinden is forecasting that the automakers and parts suppliers will hire about 135,000 U.S. workers over the next two years as sales improve and the companies replace retiring employees.

Meanwhile automakers are getting hundreds of millions of dollars in state tax breaks to invest in plants that were in grave danger of being closed.

On Tuesday, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved a 15-year, $909 million tax credit for Ford, which is investing $850 million to add 1,200 jobs at various plants in the Detroit area.

And the MEGA board said it will give Chrysler a $1.3 billion tax break if it invests in upgrades of its Sterling Heights assembly plant, which the company once planned to close.

GM recently announced it would build the replacement vehicle for the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact and a new Buick compact car at its Orion Township assembly plant, another factory that was on the chopping block.

“These are dead plants coming back to life,” McAlinden said.

Every new Detroit Three job creates as many as four additional spin-off jobs in Michigan, he added.

Those new auto jobs aren’t as lucrative as they used to be, though. The automakers are hiring new production workers at $14 an hour, half of what existing workers earn.

But labor contracts at the Detroit Three and concessions given by workers as a result of the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies are helping automakers prosper.

McAlinden said ending the “jobs bank,” which paid idled workers up to full wages, already is paying dividends.

Automakers no longer are building unneeded cars and trucks just to keep workers busy. That reduces the need for discounting and helps profitability.

Incentive costs at Ford, for instance, fell 7.2 percent in the third quarter, according to Edmunds.com.

The auto industry faces numerous risks, including a choppy economy, tightening government regulations and uncertain energy prices.

Even though automakers appear to be emerging from one of the worst periods of their history, it would be foolish for us to slip back into thinking that autos will save us.

As recent events have shown, the auto industry ride is wilder than ever.

“Anything can happen if you’re an auto company,” McAlinden said.

Rick Haglund covered Michigan business for Booth Newspapers and now writes this weekly column as a freelancer. E-mail Rick Haglund here.