GM CEO Mary Barra isnât the only woman drawing crowds at the North American International Auto Show.  Last year Mercedes-Benz beat BMW as the top-selling U.S. luxury brand. Its not-so-secret weapon? The brand-new CLA, a $30,000-plus, entry-level sedan thatâs being called the Baby Benz.  European new-car sales surged the most in almost four years as price cuts by producers such as Renault and Ford helped generate a recovery that industry executives say will last in 2014.  Honda introduced a performance-oriented sedan that the company says is critical to reversing a drop in premium Acura car deliveries that kept record U.S. sales out of Hondaâs reach last year.  Not since Janis Joplinâs âMercedes Benzâ or Bruce Springsteenâs âPink Cadillacâ has a ballad for a luxury car brand gotten as much traction as Macklemore & Ryan Lewisâs ode to Cadillac, âWhite Walls.â  Toyotaâs Lexus luxury line aims to grow as much as 10 percent annually for the next 30 years as it expands in the U.S., its biggest market, as well as in emerging markets from China to Vietnam and Brazil to Peru.  Tesla gained the most in six weeks after the carmaker said it delivered 6,900 Model S sedans in the fourth quarter, pushing full-year sales beyond a company target.  Honda, trailing GM and Ford in U.S. subcompact car sales, will try to boost deliveries with a new Fit hatchback that the Japanese company will make in North America for the first time.  Electric cars including Teslaâs Model S pose different risks than gasoline-powered models while being as safe overall, the top U.S. auto-safety regulator said.  The automotive industry needs legislation to protect driversâ privacy as more cars utilize data for location tracking and other services, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said.  Visitors to this weekâs Detroit auto show could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled into a Mary Barra welcome parade.  BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are targeting at least a fourth consecutive year of record sales in 2014 as new compacts tighten the race among the German rivals for the luxury-car industryâs lead.  Mercedes-Benz, the top selling luxury-car maker in the U.S., will likely decide by the end of next year on adding a second North American factory to boost capacity to meet rising demand.  Toyota, synonymous with staid Camry sedans and Corolla small cars, is signaling a desire to get back into sports cars with a concept coupe hinting at the looks of its future performance model.  The buzz entering the Detroit auto show that began Monday was that Ford would deliver one of the eventâs most important introductions, an F-150 destined to be the first high-production vehicle with an aluminum body.  Chryslerâs Jeep division, aided by the fast start of the new Cherokee, probably will surpass 1 million sales worldwide this year or next, the brandâs top executive said.  GMâs Chevrolet brand swept the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards at the Detroit auto show with its Corvette Stingray sports car and Silverado pickup.  Lamborghini plans to start building the Urus sport-utility vehicle in three years, the brandâs first model in the segment since the Rambo Lambo of the 1990s.  Mercedes-Benz is adding touchpad technology pioneered by the iPhone and an iPad-like display to the C-Class sedan in a bid to surpass BMW in sales.  Lightweight aluminum has become âthe material of choiceâ at Ford and the automaker will eventually use it across its entire model lineup, CEO Alan Mulally said.  Chuck Eddy, who has been a Chrysler dealer for 45 years, has to go back to the time of Jimmy Carterâs White House to recall when he last had a strong mid-size car to sell.  The futuristic world of self-driving cars, eyeglasses that e-mail and trash cans that call for pickup is running into the old-fashioned pace of doing business in Washington.  Fiat will keep Sergio Marchionne as chief executive officer at least three more years to push company growth, Chairman John Elkann said.  Volkswagen plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years in North America to revive its push to grab a bigger share of the U.S. car market.  BMW held the lead in global luxury-car sales for the ninth straight year even as Audi and Mercedes step up efforts to overtake their rival.  GM is closer to issuing the first dividend since suspending the payout in July 2008 and knows investors are expecting one, according to the automakerâs chief financial officer.  Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are rolling out cheaper models in the U.S. to woo customers from mass-market rivals like Ford Motor Co.  When it came time to trade in her Ford Explorer in September, Svetlana Friedman had a condition: No more basic radio. She wanted a car that could connect to her smartphone, her iPad and her digital life.  Mercedes-Benz, the worldâs third-largest maker of luxury autos, sliced into second-place Audiâs sales advantage in 2013 as its compact cars won new buyers.  Fordâs plan for F-Series pickups to lose as much as 750 pounds seemed like a long shot when the company said it was putting its entire lineup on a diet in 2011. The version of its best-selling truck thatâs debuting next week should weigh in close to the goal.  Volkswagen will add a mid-sized sport-utility vehicle in the U.S. and probably produce it in Chattanooga, Tennessee, two people familiar with the matter said.
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