Detroit caps comeback year with rush of sales at end

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Losing momentum: the new 2012 Toyota Camry.

By Joseph Szczesny, TheDetroitBureau.com

Countering earlier concerns about a double-dip recession, U.S. auto sales wrapped up a skittish 2011 on a positive note, surging in the final weeks of the year, with Detroit?s automakers helping drive the overall market to its highest level since the start of the long economic downturn.

Overall sales of new cars, trucks and crossovers increased by 10.2% during 2011, largely paced by a surge in demand for domestic brands. General Motors, Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co. all finished 2011 with double-digit increases over the previous year. Vollkswagen also reported a 26% gain for 2011 as its new lineup of cars ? especially the American-made 2012 VW Passat ? has clicked with customers.

Chrysler Group reported U.S. sales of 138,019 units, a 37% increase compared with sales in December 2010 and the group?s best monthly volume since May 2008.

Ford Motor Co. also reported a 16% increase, while GM reported a modest 5% increase.

For the year, Chrysler Group sales totaled 1.37 million units, up 26% versus sales in 2010, the largest percentage sales gain of any full-line manufacturer. The Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram Truck brands each posted solid sales gains during 2011 compared with 2010.

Ford sales finished 2011 with a 17% increase as the flagship ?Blue Oval? brand saw sales top 2 million units for the first time since 2007.

Meanwhile, with Chevrolet gaining momentum from a variety of new and older models, GM reported a 14% increase.

?The year finished on a high note, with industry sales momentum strengthening as the year came to a close,? said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. ?We saw Ford sales strengthen as well, posting our best December retail sales month since 2005 and closing the year as America?s best-selling brand.?

Reid Bigland, Chrysler Group US Sales chief, noted December marked Chrysler Group?s 21st-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and seventh-consecutive month of sales increases of at least 20%.

?Chrysler Group finished a year of growth on a strong note with our December retail sales soaring 45% to our highest dealer retail sales in four years,? Bigland said.? ?Looking back, we were the fastest-growing automaker in the country, increasing our market share 1.3%age points during 2011,? he said.

The group?s 37% December increase was driven in part by strong sales of the Chrysler 300 flagship sedan, Chrysler 200 mid-size sedan, Dodge Charger and Avenger sport sedans, Ram pickup truck, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, and Compass.

Despite concerns about rising inventories, Chrysler Group finished the month with a comfortable 64-day supply of inventory (326,087 units). U.S. industry sales figures for December are projected at an estimated 14 million SAAR.

Royal Oak-based Saab Car USA also reported selling 270 vehicles, down significantly from the 1,074 units sold in December, 2010. However, Saab managed to increase its overall sales in the U.S. despite the financial troubles that forced it into bankruptcy.

Porsche Cars USA also reported a 15% increase in sales for 2011.

More from The Detroit Bureau:

First Look: Ford EcoSport

Hyundai, Kia Expect Slower Growth in 2012

Detroit Aims to Regain Control of Midsize Market

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/04/9951393-2011-car-sales-end-with-a-surge

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Freeport Indonesia union says delays return to work (Reuters)

JAKARTA (Reuters) ? Workers at Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's (FCX.N) Indonesia unit delayed their return after a three-month strike because 500 employees of sub-contractors lack job security, a senior union official said Monday.

The workers hope to resolve the dispute and start heading back to the Grasberg mine in the central highlands of Papua island, eastern Indonesia, Tuesday, said union spokesman Virgo Solossa by telephone.

"It's likely that we will be back to work tomorrow as around 500 workers from several sub-contractor companies still have issues that need to be settled first. Today we want to make sure that all contractors have no issues," Solossa said.

The strike at the world's second-largest copper mine shook labor relations in Southeast Asia's largest economy because it was a high-profile attempt by workers to gain a larger share of the rewards in a booming economy.

The strike ended on December 14 with a deal under which Freeport agreed to a pay increase of roughly 40 percent for around 8,000 union members and to a framework for a better deal for roughly 15,000 other non-union workers and contractors.

Arizona-based Freeport earlier said it expected full operations at the Grasberg mine to resume in early 2012.

The union has not returned to work largely because of a dispute with contractor PT Kuala Pelabuhan Indonesia (KPI) over possible sanctions on workers who took part in the strike. Last week KPI agreed to rehire about 700 workers who went on strike with no sanctions, the union said.

Monday's dispute appeared to be similar to the union's with KPI.

(Reporting by Rieka Rahadiana; Writing by Matthew Bigg)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120102/bs_nm/us_freeport_indonesia

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William Carey, donated millions to education, dies

FILE - This undated file photo released by Johns Hopkins University shows William Polk Carey. Carey, an entrepreneur who founded a New York-based investment management firm bearing his name and donated millions of dollars to help found business schools at universities in Maryland and Arizona, has died at 81, his firm said Monday, Jan. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Johns Hopkins University, File)

FILE - This undated file photo released by Johns Hopkins University shows William Polk Carey. Carey, an entrepreneur who founded a New York-based investment management firm bearing his name and donated millions of dollars to help found business schools at universities in Maryland and Arizona, has died at 81, his firm said Monday, Jan. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Johns Hopkins University, File)

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) ? William Polk Carey, an entrepreneur who founded a New York-based investment management firm bearing his name and donated millions of dollars to help found business schools at universities in Maryland and Arizona, has died at 81, his firm said Monday.

The board of that firm, W.P. Carey & Co., issued a statement that the Baltimore native and corporate finance pioneer died Monday at a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospital, surrounded by family and friends.

Carey gave $30 million in April to the University of Maryland law school, reports noted. He also made a $50 million bequest in 2006 to Johns Hopkins University to found the Carey School of Business at that Maryland university. And in 2003, the business leader and philanthropist also gave $50 million to Arizona State University in 2003 to found its W.P. Carey School of Business.

At the time of his death, Carey was chairman of W.P. Carey & Co., which manages a global investment portfolio totaling about $11.8 billion, according to the company statement. It added that associates mourned the death of "the cultural leader of our company."

Carey was a leader in the field of corporate finance for nearly 60 years, the statement said, providing capital to hundreds of companies through the firm he founded.

Carey went on in 1988 to establish the W.P. Carey Foundation to support educational causes and donated generously in later years.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the $30 million given to the University of Maryland's school of law was the largest gift in that school's history. It also said other Baltimore schools, among other educational causes, were recipients of his generosity, including the Baltimore School for the Arts.

"Bill was not only an insightful businessman, but a wonderful brother and a good citizen," his brother, Francis Carey, said in a statement published by that paper. "He always felt grateful that he was raised in a family committed to public service, and he worked passionately to uphold that tradition."

Arizona State University also issued a statement mourning the death of Carey, saying one of the nation's most prominent real estate investors and the major donor behind its school of business was a "visionary" who helped propel its business school to prominence.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-02-Obit-Carey/id-199280531fee4f9489e3032923a3740b

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Texas A&M survives late Northwestern rally for Meineke bowl win

by Associated Press

khou.com

Posted on December 31, 2011 at 3:01 PM

Updated yesterday at 5:11 PM

HOUSTON?After everything Texas A&M had been through in the last month, interim coach Tim DeRuyter worried how the Aggies would respond in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

It didn?t take long for DeRuyter to see that his team was going to be just fine.

Ryan Tannehill threw for 329 yards and a touchdown and Ben Malena ran for two more scores to lead Texas A&M to a 33-22 win over Northwestern on Saturday.

Northwestern led 7-3 early in the second quarter before A&M reeled off 27 straight points to take a decisive lead and then fight off a late rally to capture its first bowl victory since 2001.

Texas A&M (7-6) broke a five-game bowl losing streak in a win the team dedicated to fired coach Mike Sherman and offensive lineman Joseph Villavisencio, who was killed in a car accident last week.

?When you go through the adversity our guys have been through ... there was just a sense that things weren?t quite right,? DeRuyter said. ?As a coach you?re a little bit unsettled. But when we came out and started fast, I thought: ?These guys are really ready to play.??

A&M won a bowl for the first time since a 28-9 victory over TCU after the 2001 season. That also came in Houston, when this game was called the Galleryfurniture.com bowl and played next door at the Astrodome.

Tannehill said all of the adversity simply gave them extra motivation.

?It?s been a long year with a lot of ups and downs,? Tannehill said. ?To get a bowl win for the first time in 10 years, to play for Joey V. most importantly and his family and Coach Sherman?there?s many different levels to it, but a win satisfies them all.?

Malena ran for 77 yards, filling in ably for Cyrus Gray, who missed his second straight game with a stress fracture in his left shoulder.

Northwestern (6-7) hasn?t won a bowl game since the 1949 Rose Bowl, a span of nine losses.

Dan Persa, who finished with 213 yards passing, was disappointed he couldn?t help the team break its bowl win drought.

?We failed in that regard,? he said. ?We let everyone down and we know it.?

Persa set an NCAA record for career completion percentage (73.6) by going 25-of-37 to end his career 460-of-633. He entered the game needing 19 attempts to meet the minimum standards to qualify for the record.

The Aggies were up 30-7 before Brian Peters intercepted Tannehill early in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats took advantage of that mistake when Kain Colter scored on a 1-yard run for Northwestern?s first points since early in the second quarter. The 2-point conversion left A&M ahead 30-15.

Colter found Tim Riley in the corner of the end zone for on a 2-yard touchdown pass to get Northwestern within 30-22 with less than six minutes remaining.

A&M responded with a clock-eating drive capped by a 31-yard field goal to secure the win. Senior Jeff Fuller, who has had a disappointing and injury-plagued year, had a key third down catch for 29 yards on that drive and finished with a season-high 119 yards receiving.

DeRuyter was with the team for his last game before leaving to become Fresno State?s coach. The Aggies hired former Houston coach Kevin Sumlin earlier this month to replace Sherman, but he wasn?t involved in bowl preparations.

Texas A&M wore helmet decals honoring Villavisencio, who died Dec. 22. The black and white decal, which says ?Joey V.,? had his No. 67 and the Texas A&M logo. There was a moment of silence for Villavisencio before the game and fellow offensive lineman Danny Baker wore his number and greeted his father before the game.

?Hopefully we were able to give some comfort to Joey V?s family,? DeRuyter said. ?I think it was uplifting for them to be here.?

Texas A&M erased a 7-3 second quarter deficit thanks to touchdowns by Malena and Fuller and a field goal by Randy Bullock to lead 20-7 at halftime.

Malena?s second touchdown came on a 19-yard run early in the third quarter that made it 27-7. Another field goal by Bullock, this one from 47 yards, pushed A&M?s advantage to 30-7.

The Wildcats alternated quarterbacks for much of the day with Persa leading the more traditional offense and Colter directing the wildcat offense. But neither player could generate much offense while often under heavy pressure from the Aggies, who finished with eight sacks.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said the loud, heavily A&M crowd made things difficult for his offense.

?My ears are still ringing because of the noise,? he said. ?The roof was closed, so it went from a home game to a super home game. I thought we were prepared for it, but obviously, I didn?t do a good enough job.?

Texas A&M?s offense got rolling in the second quarter when Tannehill found Ryan Swope, who was a high school running back, on a short pass that he took 37 yards to the 1. Swope tight-roped the sideline and avoided a half dozen tacklers before he was brought down.

Malena scored a play later to put A&M on top 10-7.

Northwestern took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter when Venric Mark scored 2-yard option run.

Mark provided another highlight for the Wildcats on a nifty 47-yard punt return where he spun away from a pair of tacklers before hurdling another one before being pushed out of bounds in the second half.

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Source: http://www.khou.com/sports/Aggies-hold-on-to-beat-Northwestern-in-Meineke-Car-Care-Bowl-at-Reliant-136481148.html

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India death toll climbs in wake of Cyclone Thane

The death toll from a storm that has pummeled India's southeastern coastline rose Saturday to 27, with thousands forced to seek refuge in emergency shelters, officials in the worst affected area said.

The Tamil Nadu district of Cuddalore, south of the city of Chennai, bore the brunt of Cyclone Thane's fury Friday, with winds gusting at almost 90 miles per hour at its peak.

The storm uprooted trees, ripped off traffic signals from their posts and sent shards of glass and other debris whizzing through the air.

Amuthavalli, the district's top official who goes by a single name, told CNN the number of residents killed stood at 27 as of Saturday but is not expected to climb much higher. Some lost their lives when walls collapsed or downed power lines caused electrocution.

One of those killed was a French national, the French Foreign Ministry said Saturday. France presents its sincere condolences to the victim's family and his loved ones, the ministry said.

The first priority is to restore power supplies, she said. Workers will then start clearing fallen trees and other wreckage from the district's roads. Read More

Source: http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/12/india-death-toll-climbs-in-wake-of.html

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Field Gun: Field Gun at Wellington College

The Field Gun run has been described as trying to achieve an almost impossible task in a ridiculously short time with too few men on an unsuitable track.

The Royal Navy made the sport look easy, whilst in fact each crew member was selected from the finest men throughout the country.? The run was then culmination of six months of dedication, fitness, courage, teamwork and above all discipline.? Described on Meridian Tonight as "the toughest mans' team sport in the world", we at Wellington hope to continue the tradition that started in 1907.

The Field Gun run at Wellington was started in 1984 by CPO Edwin Harris, SSI and Lieutenant Commander S.R. Braidwood R.N. (Ret'd), the C.O. of the Royal Navy Section of the CCF at the time.? Built by the boys, the Gun and Limber were scaled down versions of the real thing, but the rigging and obstacles are full sized.? Weighing a total over 2000lbs moving the real gun and limber is an enormous task for full-grown men.? The boys, with an average age of about 16, train for for a much more limited time with a gun and limber with a combined weight of just over 700lbs.

The Royal Tournament Field Gun Run was held for the final time in summer 1999. Wellington College and Manchester Youth run using smaller guns but Portsmouth Action Field Gun remains the only establishment that continues the run in its complete and original form.

The First Field Gun Run at Wellington College 1984

Click on images for larger version then click back button on browser to return.

Source: http://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/field-gun/field-gun-at-wellington-college

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Brock Lesnar retires from MMA after loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141

LAS VEGAS - Brock Lesnar never really adjusted to getting hit for real. Tonight, facing a 263-pound monster in Alistair Overeem, Lesnar bowed out early and then walked away from the sport.

The same old bugaboo - his inability to absorb punches - reared its ugly head. Overeem targeted Lesnar's body with knees and kicks, got the big man to drop and cover up. It was all over in less than two and a half minutes in the main event of UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

So is Lesnar's run in MMA. The former star of pro wrestling told the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that he was finished fighting in the Octagon.

"I want to thank everyone, the Fertittas and Dana White," Lesnar told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I promised my wife and kids that if I won this fight, the fight against Junior [dos Santos] would be my last. If I lost tonight, this would be my last."

Overeem, a veteran of 47 MMA fights coming in, broke Lesnar's spirit early by thwarting a takedown attempt and battering his body repeatedly. The win gets him the next? heavyweight title shot against Junior dos Santos sometime in 2012.

"My hats off to Alistair Overeem. I want to take my hat off to all my training partners, my entire family," said Lesnar. "I've really had a difficult time with my disease. I'm officially retired tonight. This was the last time you'll see me in the Octagon."

Lesnar missed the last 15 months fighting a battle against diverticulitis. The intestinal ailment and subsequent surgery had him losing 40 pounds at one point. Lesnar was first diagnosed in Oct. of 2009. He went without surgery and tried to return a year later. He lost his UFC heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. More alarming than the one-sided loss was the way Lesnar turned and ran away from punches after he was nailed a few times by Velasquez.

Velasquez is a big puncher, but Overeem is in a different class. An experience kickboxer, the 263-pound Overeem hits like a Mack truck. A few knees early tonight really rocked Lesnar and put him on his heels. He seemed tentative in going for the takedown. Lesnar, a wrestler by trade, only attempted one single-leg takedown 50 seconds into the fight. After that, he chose to stand and box with Overeem. It was a path to disaster.

Overeem (36-11-1, 1-0 UFC) drilled Lesnar on his right side with a nasty left kick. Lesnar had a delayed reaction, grabbed at his side and went down to a knee. Overeem charged forward and threw 11 unanswered punches as Lesnar covered up. The final right crushed Lesnar to the body. That's when the ref stepped in.

This was the UFC debut for Overeem, who's fought all over the world. The giant Dutchman spent most of his career fighting in Japan as a 205-pounder. In 2007, he decided to add bulk to his 6-foot-5 frame. The change has been shocking. He's stormed to eight straight wins in the big boy division, with seven of them coming via first round finishes.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Brock-Lesnar-retires-from-MMA-after-loss-to-Alis?urn=mma-wp11363

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