Autos

Surging truck sales paved the way for one of the biggest auto sales months in nearly six years. That's a sign of the housing rebound making its way into new construction, as contractors buy new pickups. Growth in the vital housing and auto industries are giving a welcome boost to the broader economy. "Housing is good," said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales at General Motors Co. "And the individuals that make their living as a result of that are buying trucks. " February housing starts rose almost 28% from a year earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000.

March looks to have turned out to be one of the biggest months for auto sales in nearly six years. The industry sold almost 1.5 million vehicles in March, about 5% more than the same month a year earlier and likely the most since the 1.6 million sold in May 2007, according to automotive information company Edmunds.com. General Motors Co. said Tuesday that its U.S. sales rose more than 6% to 245,950 vehicles compared to the same month a year earlier, "thanks to a strengthening economy and new products,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations.  Ford Motor Co. said it sold 236,160 vehicles last month, a 6% rise from the same period a year earlier.

For all the hype over hybrid, electric and diesel cars, automakers sure haven't sold many of them. They have themselves to blame. Car companies somehow keep squeezing more power from less gasoline in cars priced thousands of dollars less than comparable hybrids or diesels, which still account for just a fraction of U.S. car sales. Take Ford Motor Co.'s newest gas-only miser, a turbocharged 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine about the size of a coffee can. Powering the subcompact Fiesta, the engine will be the most efficient non-hybrid power plant in America, Ford brags.

Thanks to a rebound in the auto industry, the UAW is reporting a growth in union membership. The UAW, which represents workers at the American auto companies as well as some public sector workers and even casino employees, said it finished last year with 382,513 members, up from 380,716 in 2011. While the growth was small in the last year, the tally is a big jump from the 355,191 workers the UAW represented back in 2009, the start of the industry's recovery from the recession and bankruptcy reorganizations of General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group.

Luxury car and SUV sales and leases are up 11% so far this year after climbing 13.7% in 2012, according to a new analysis by Kelley Blue Book. The growth has been driven by sales at the lower end of the luxury segment, said Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at auto price information company Kelley Blue Book. "The brands that are doing best are the entry level luxuries lines: Acura, Infiniti, Lexus," Gutierrez said. "Success at the entry level is why you see Mercedes-Benz introducing the CLA and BMW introducing the 320i.

When Ferrari's biggest and baddest supercar is a hybrid, you know the world has changed. Once considered the province of techies and the eco-friendly, hybrids are catching on in almost every vehicle segment. Hybrid sales were up 32% in the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to research firm Autodata Corp. That's driven by a combination of trends, including upward-creeping gas prices, a growing track record for reliability and the wider selection of hybrid offerings - everything from the entry-level Toyota Prius C to the spacious Ford Fusion sedan to the LaFerrari, a 949-horsepower, million-dollar monster.

It could be the cutest little automotive cage match in recent memory. In one corner, you have the all-new Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback, introduced Thursday at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. In the other, the 1.0-liter Ford Fiesta, announced at the L.A. Auto Show in November. Each sub-compact has promised to be the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid car sold in the U.S. Only one can win. But which will it be? Only Mitsubishi has released gas mileage estimates. The Japanese automaker said its Mirage will get an estimated 37 mpg in the city, 44 mpg on the highway, and 40 mpg combined.

Scion kicked off the second day of the 2013 New York International Auto Show by unveiling a refreshed version of its tC coupe. The two-door compact car is Scion's biggest seller, so the 2014 model is a relatively minor upgrade from the version Toyota's youth-oriented brand started selling in 2010. "The sustained success of the tC, which accounts for 40 percent of all Scions ever sold, challenged designers to enhance the 2014 sports coupe in ways that keep it exciting to today's drivers without losing its core appeal," Scion Vice President Doug Murtha said.

Once the icon of stodgy sensibility, the Volvo station wagon went out of production after the 2011 model year. Now its back, as a “sports wagon” variant of the existing S60 sedan, the automaker announced at the 2013 New York International Auto Show. “The V60 builds on our wagon heritage,” Volvo Cars of North America Chief Executive John Maloney said in a statement. “And this time, we've added sophistication with the dynamic driving performance of a sedan.” PHOTOS:   Highlights of the 2013 New York Auto Show A high-performance version, the V60 R-Design, made its world debut Thursday at the 2013 New York Auto Show.

Shelby American, the brand behind fire-breathing Ford Mustang models like the Super Snake and the GT350, announced Thursday at the 2013 New York Auto Show a 1,200-horsepower Shelby 1000 S/C. The company also announced it's getting into the truck business. Or, rather, back into the truck business. The Nevada-based company unveiled the Shelby Raptor, a supercharged version of the already-mean Ford F-150 SVT Raptor that Highway 1 tested in 2011 . This isn't the first time a truck has been sold with the Shelby name on it; the company sold a 175-horsepower Shelby Dakota truck in 1989.