rorty:::tort: DAILY: U.S. sales climb 14% on robust car, crossover, pickup demand | Ford adds Lincoln MKZ inspectors to speed launch | Chrysler wins ruling against 2 dismissed dealerships

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DAILY NEWSLETTER	February 1, 2013
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JANUARY U.S. AUTO SALES
U.S. sales climb 14% on robust car, crossover, pickup demand
SAAR hits 15.3 million, just below December

U.S. auto sales, led Toyota Motor and the Detroit 3, rose 14 percent in January, giving the industry a bigger lift to begin 2013 than analysts expected. Demand pushed the seasonally adjusted sales rate to 15.3 million, slightly below December's 15.4-million rate but well above January 2012's 13.97 million. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 8:00 am U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 4:40 p.m. ET

Ford adds Lincoln MKZ inspectors to speed launch
Michigan crew will aid Mexican assembly plant

Ford, seeking to speed deliveries of the 2013 Lincoln MKZ to dealers, is shipping some of the sedans to Michigan for quality inspections that can't be handled fast enough at the car's Mexican assembly plant. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 1:11 pm U.S. Eastern time

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Chrysler wins U.S. ruling against two dismissed dealerships

A federal judge has ruled against two Chrysler Group dealerships in New York whose owners lost their franchises as part of the automaker’s 2009 bankruptcy. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 4:31 pm U.S. Eastern time

GM sales rise 16 percent on stout pickup sales

General Motors sales rose 16 percent in January on sharper pickup sales and strong results for Cadillac and Buick. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 11:59 am U.S. Eastern time

Automakers' Super Bowl spots rule YouTube

Carmakers' Super Bowl commercials so far are dominating viewership among the big game's ads on YouTube, the social-media video site. ... >> story Published: Jan 31 5:08 pm U.S. Eastern time

Automotive News Blogs

Lincoln's Super Bowl sign of the 'alpacalypse'
NICK BUNKLEY: Last year, General Motors ran a Super Bowl spot asserting that the Chevrolet Silverado is the only truck strong enough to survive an apocalypse. Now, Ford is showing us what happens when its Lincoln MKZ encounters an "alpacalypse." ...

Read the blog Published: Feb 1 10:13 am U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 4:35 pm ET - adds quotes from Matt VanDyke

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Automotive News'
top 5 news stories of the week

1.	AutoNation to put its own name on most dealerships
2.	Chrysler bolsters plan for Fiat, Alfa in U.S.
3.	GM, in more marketing shifts, names new ad boss for Cadillac, report says
4.	GM's Opel names former VW exec Neumann as CEO
5.	Costco-GM promotion proves value of 90-day sales drives

Ford sued in the U.K. by over 1,400 ex-employees on Visteon pension switch
Ford was sued by more than 1,400 former United Kingdom workers for making misleading statements about the security of transferring their pensions to Visteon during the 2000 spinoff of the auto-parts company. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 11:33 am U.S. Eastern time

GM offers two years' free maintenance to GMC Sierra buyers
GMC is launching a free-maintenance promotion for Sierra pickup buyers with an advertising campaign that kicks off this weekend. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 9:00 am U.S. Eastern time

Mercedes takes early U.S. luxury lead after outselling BMW
Mercedes-Benz sales in the United States surged 11 percent in January, getting an early jump on its effort to top BMW in luxury auto sales for the year. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 3:26 pm U.S. Eastern time

Detroit 3 boost Canada sales in January
The Detroit 3 automakers posted gains last month in Canada, helped by demand for fuel-efficient passenger cars and mirroring robust sales in the United States last month. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 2:43 pm U.S. Eastern time / UPDATED: 2/1/13 3:17 pm ET - adds GM figures

Toyota tops car brands in U.S. consumer perception, survey says
Toyota again topped an annual consumer survey on brand perception in the United States released today as all the top automakers' scores rose from last year. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 12:16 am U.S. Eastern time

Daimler will buy 12% stake in Beijing Auto's car unit
Daimler will pay 640 million euros ($872 million) for a 12 percent stake in the car unit of Chinese partner Beijing Automotive and get two seats on the board, the company said today. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 6:04 am U.S. Eastern time

Denso raises profit outlook, sees yen boost for cars, suppliers
Global auto supplier Denso today raised its annual profit forecast by 6.7 percent to 240 billion yen ($2.6 billion), helped by a weakening yen that also benefits its Japanese customers including Toyota. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 2:22 pm U.S. Eastern time

Lear posts strong Q4 profits on higher North American sales
Seating and electronics supplier Lear said strong gains in North America powered improved fourth quarter profits. The spike of auto sales in Lear's home market overcame a slight drop in Europe, where the auto industry continues its downward trend. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 9:38 am U.S. Eastern time

Plug-in hybrid, EV sales drop sharply from December
U.S. sales of plug-in electric cars started 2013 slowly, as demand of the Chevrolet Volt, the Toyota Prius plug-in and Nissan Leaf each posted deep declines in January from December. ... >> story Published: Feb 1 4:41 pm U.S. Eastern time