DETROIT - Inside Ford Field, Mitt Romney was the "car guy." Outside, he was anything but.

Romney was introduced before his speech to the Detroit Economic Club today as "a car guy" and as someone who "understands our industry" by David Fischer, CEO of The Suburban Collection, the 13th largest automotive group in the country. But outside the Detroit Lions' football stadium, where Romney's speech was moved to accomodate an expected crowd of 1,200, United Auto Workers marched and chanted in protest of Romney's opposition to providing federal loans to General Motors and Chrysler in 2008 and 2009.

Romney, who spoke mostly about his tax and government-reduction programs, fired back against the UAW in his speech.

"In my view, the industry got in trouble because the UAW asked for too much, management gave too much, and the government (environmental) standards hurt domestic automakers," Romney said. "As we look forward, the UAW must take care not imperil the future of the industry."

At the beginning of his speech, Romney said "I love cars," and as he was delivering some concluding remarks accusing President Barack Obama of a failure to lead, he said if we had a president "who by the way likes cars" the country would prosper.

Before the speech, UAW president Bob King said Romney and the other GOP nominees turned their noses to the American auto industry, while "Obama stood up for manufacturing in America."

"Mitt is certainly the lightning rod, but every single one of them said they didn't support" the auto bailout, King said while marching with UAW members outside the domed stadium. "That means they'd rather America go into a depression. It's irresponsible. We're talking about more than 1 million jobs."

A large sign on top of a truck driving outside the football stadium read: "Let Romney Go Bankrupt" - a reference to the headline above Romney's December, 2008 op-ed in the New York Times when he advocated for General Motors and Chrysler to go directly into bankruptcy instead of getting billions in loans from the George W. Bush and Obama administrations.

But the other Republican presidential contenders - Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul - were also opposed to the loans. And no matter who is the GOP nominee, King told The Dispatch that the loans would be a key issue this fall, especially in Michigan and Ohio.

King credits the Obama administration for the lending of about $60 billion in taxpayer dollars to General Motors and Chrysler, keeping the companies afloat before they were forced into a managed bankruptcy. Bush steered about $17 billion to the companies in late 2008 before leaving office.

Romney and the other GOP candidates contend the companies should've gone into bankruptcy before getting federal aid, perhaps obtaining loans from the private sector to keep the companies running.

"What's so ludicrous about that is he was with Bain Capital, so he knows there was no private money available," King said. "It was either government loans or liquidation."

Another highlight of Romney's speech, at least for the journalists who cover the former Massachusetts governor often, was his reiterating of his "trees are the right height" in Michigan line - his attempt to show his roots as a state native and son of former Michigan Gov. George W. Romney. He also said he drives a Ford Mustang and a Chevrolet pick-up truck, while his wife drives "a couple of Cadillacs, actually."

The speech was delivered on the actuall football field, with all of the audience and press placed from the 20-yard line into the end zone. A sea of empty stadium seats provided the back drop.

Tonight, Santorum is expected to roll out an economic plan for his first 100 days in office.