Inside autos: Brighton dealers noted for service

Ford Motor Co. recently honored the owners of Brighton Ford Mercury for their community service.
At a ceremony in New Orleans Jan. 23, held prior to the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual convention, Ford held its ninth annual Salute to Dealers where it honored six of the company's "very best corporate citizens."
Brothers Todd and Scott Spitler of Brighton Ford Mercury were honored for their help with the Brighton Bulldogs, five local elementary schools and elsewhere in the community.
Coming up: Ford is to show several vehicles at Chicago Auto Show, including a high-performance version of the Taurus.
Fleet sales off by 41,000 in January Last month, Chrysler LLC sold 41,000 fewer fleet vehicles, as demand for rental cars fell and as the automaker tried to cut sales of fleet vehicles, which tend to be unprofitable.
Chrysler sold only 9,000 fleet vehicles in January, a drop of more than 80% compared with last year. The decline in fleet sales ballooned the company's overall January sales decline to 55%, Chrysler said last week.
"We're really focusing much more on retail customers and not focusing on volume for vanity," said Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press, during a conference call with analysts and journalists on Tuesday.
But January's fleet sales were unusually low as demand for fleet vehicles fell at a time of further job losses and deterioration in the U.S. economy.
Into the future, fleet sales should be higher than the 9,000 Chrysler sold last month. The company expects monthly fleet sales to settle at about 20,000 vehicles.
Coming up: Look for Chrysler in coverage of the Chicago Auto Show's media days on Feb. 11 and 12.
Canadian sales decline 46.6%General Motors Corp.'s sales in Canada dropped 46.6% last month compared with a year ago, the automaker said last week.
GM dealers sold 14,254 vehicles in January in Canada.
"January sales continued to reflect the overall Canadian market challenges seen at the end of 2008," Marc Comeau, GM of Canada's vice president of sales, service and marketing, said in a statement.
"GM's product lineup of new, affordable, fuel-efficient vehicles is well positioned to respond to improving consumer credit and confidence we hope and expect to see in the months ahead as government stimulus efforts and other factors start to take hold in Canada."