Ford on track to sell 2.2 million cars in U.S. this year

A logo of a Ford car is pictured during a press presentation prior to the Essen Motor Show in Essen November 30, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Ina Fassbender

By Deepa Seetharaman

DETROIT | Sat Dec 29, 2012 9:11pm EST

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is on track to sell 2.2 million cars under its main brand this year, up 7 percent from 2011, the automaker said on Saturday, but the company has acknowledged losing market share as it struggled to keep up with consumer demand.

It marks the second straight year the No. 2 U.S. automaker has surpassed the 2 million threshold.

The projected sales jump for the Ford brand falls short of the overall industry's gains, which many analysts expect to exceed 13 percent in 2012.

This year is the third in a row that industry sales have climbed by double digits, as American automakers rebound from a deep recession that pushed Ford's rivals, General Motors Co and Chrysler Group LLC, into bankruptcy in 2009.

Earlier this year, Ford said it expected to lose market share in the United States because it could not build enough cars and trucks to satisfy consumer demand. Consumers also are buying fewer pickup trucks than in past years.

Last year, Ford sold just under 2.1 million cars and trucks under its main brand in the United States. When adding its upscale Lincoln brand, Ford sold more than 2.1 million cars last year.

(Editing by Dan Wilchins, Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)

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Claim seeks $100 million for child survivor of Connecticut school shooting

A U.S. flag hangs over stockings left as a memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, along a fence surrounding the Sandy Hook Cemetery in Newtown, Connecticut December 27, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Adrees Latif

By Mary Ellen Godin

MERIDEN, Connecticut | Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:36pm EST

MERIDEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - A $100 million claim on behalf of a 6-year-old survivor is the first legal action to come out of the Connecticut school shooting that left 26 children and adults dead two weeks ago.

The unidentified client, referred to as Jill Doe, heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire, according to the claim filed by New Haven-based attorney Irv Pinsky.

"As a consequence, the ... child has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined," the claim said.

Pinsky said he filed a claim on Thursday with state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., whose office must give permission before a lawsuit can be filed against the state.

"We all know its going to happen again," Pinsky said on Friday. "Society has to take action."

Twenty children and six adults were shot dead on December 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The children were all 6 and 7 years old.

Pinsky's claim said that the state Board of Education, Department of Education and Education Commissioner had failed to take appropriate steps to protect children from "foreseeable harm."

It said they had failed to provide a "safe school setting" or design "an effective student safety emergency response plan and protocol."

Pinsky said he was approached by the child's parents within a week of the shooting.

The shooting, which also left the gunman dead, has prompted extensive debate about gun control and the suggestion by the National Rifle Association that schools be patrolled by armed guards. Police have said the gunman killed his mother at their home in Newtown before going to the school.

(Reporting by Mary Ellen Godin Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

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