The Bull Market Is 6 Years Old; Here's How Auto Stocks Have Recovered

The current bull market turned six years old this Monday, and it seems appropriate to take a look back and see how far stocks have come since the S&P 500 hit a Financial Crisis low of 676.53 on March 9, 2009.

The S&P itself has more than tripled in value, up about 207 percent in those six years.

Back in 2009, Ford Motor Co F, General Motors Co GM and the entire U.S. auto industry were in the center of the economic turmoil. General Motors received more than $50 billion in taxpayer bailouts, and competitor Chrysler received more than $10 billion.

However, as the economy has bounced back, so has the auto industry.

General Motors

Other than the big banks, GM was one of the centerpieces of the Financial Crisis and had the longest road to recovery of all the major auto players. In fact, the "old" General Motors declared bankruptcy in 2009 and underwent a restructuring process to get back on the right track.

Shares of the old GM were de-listed from the NYSE in 2009 and the old entity was renamed Motor Liquidation Corp.

The new GM went public again in 2010.

Since it began trading again in 2010, GM shares are up about 10 percent. The U.S. government sold its last remaining shares of GM it held from the bailout in late 2013.

Ford

Ford shareholders have fared much better than GM shareholders during the six-year bull market. Since March 9, 2009, Ford shares are up about 824 percent.

Honda Motors Co HMC

Honda shareholders haven't enjoyed quite as much of a run as Ford shareholders have since market lows on March 9, 2009, but shares have climbed nearly 60 percent in the past six years.

Honda shareholders also avoided the Huge collapse in share price that Ford and GM shareholders endured during the height of the crisis.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV FCAU

After the government bailout and a subsequent bankruptcy restructuring, Fiat purchased the shares of Chrysler that were held by the U.S. government in 2011. Fiat acquired the remaining shares of Chrysler in 2014, and the newly-created Fiat Chrysler Automobiles went public later that year.

Tesla

Since the dawn of the bull market, a new generation of auto companies has been born, led by Tesla Motors Inc TSLA.

Tesla's IPO price back in 2010 was $17.

Holders of IPO shares have now seen a return of more than 1000 percent on their investment.

Takeaway

The auto industry has certainly produced a wide range of outcomes for shareholders since the S&P 500 bottomed in March of 2009.

As the new generation of hybrid and electric cars begin to enter the market in a meaningful way, the auto industry will likely look even more different by March of 2021.

Image credit: BriYYZ, Wikimedia