Anybody working in the Automotive industry?

I'm considering a career track in product development/planning (not engineering but market research) in the automotive industry and was wondering if anyone has done anything similar or anything else in the industry.

I don't have any experience in this type of setting, History Bachelors, extremely passionate about cars with some "softs" (car clubs, yada yada).

What would be some of the entry level positions I would look at?

I know that Ford, Toyota and Nissan hire MBAs from US business schools. Ford has a good internship program, but I'm not certain about the nature of the positions. That's about as far as I've gotten in my research, but it's someplace to start.
What schools are you targeting?

I haven't targeted any schools yet, basically making a rough outline and collecting information. I need work experience before I even considering an MBA.

A lot of the positions are within the finance groups but there is some product development/marketing/etc....

Good way to research (at this level) is to do a search on Monster or Career Builder or pick your job search to see what jobs are available and where Toyota has a big campus in Torrance, CA but many of them may be in Detroit).

Toyota does not hire MBA without engineering degree with at least 5 years of work experience.

Ford and Nissan are your best bet. Your best chances at those two programs is go to either Fuqua or Kellogg.

Ford has two programs that are suited to your goal. Marketing Leadership Program and Product Planning Leadership Program.
Marketing Leadership Program is a 4 year rotational program that rotates through advance strategy marketing, product marketing, consumer marketing, and field sales. It's the most presitigious rotational program at Ford. Mark Fields, President of Americas and EVP (2nd in command at Ford), was the first graduate. Several members of the Ford family are current/former members of the program. The recruiting is done at 5 core schools (Fuqua, Michigan, Kellogg, Wharton, and Darden), and 2 national conferences (National Black and NSHMBA). The incoming internship class is 6-8, and full time offers are only extended to the intern class.
Product Planning is a 5 year rotational program. The core schools are different than MLP. Fuqua just became a core school this year. Product planners serves as a conduit between engineering, finance, and marketing in the advance stages of the product life cycle. 5-6 years before product launch.

Nissan have 2 programs: NRDP and GRDP (Global), both are full time only program.
NRDP - 5 year general management rotational program. Mandatory rotation to field sales. Fuqua and Kellogg are the core schools. Recruiting is done at the core schools and a few other top tier school (Wharton, Sloan, and Tuck). NRDP is the most established program of the two, but still young compared to Ford's program.
GRDP - Rotate between emerging and developed markets. The goal is to place people back into their home market. This is international only program. You need work authorization and significant work experience in the emerging market of your final placement. For GRDP, core schools are Fuqua, Kellogg, HBS, INSEAD, and LBS. GRDP started last year - first class of GRDP is class of 2011.

I am very interested in a career path like this as well. I would be focusing more in the financial section of the company, but I want it to be in the automotive field. I however will not be going to any of the core schools that were listed for the recruiting, I will be attending UC Davis for my MBA. I know its an unknown until I actually do it, but what are the chances I could get into this kind of career with a major auto manufacturer without going to one of the big schools that were listed?

Wow - this is a really good summary!

Thank you.