we begin tonight with phil lebeau of cnbc with us from gm headquarters in detroit. phil, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. with strong sales in the u.s. and china, the 103-year-old automaker reported strong profits today and reclaimed the title of world's largest automaker from toyota, but it hasn't always been an easy ride. it's a day few at general motors could have imagined two years ago. the world's largest automaker announced its most profitable year ever. for dave gray who works the new third shift at gm's plant in flint, michigan, the record earnings not only mean job security, but he and every other auto worker at gm will also get a bonus check of up to $7,000. >> thanks to the government for saving the auto industry and hundreds of thousands of jobs, uaw and general motors, we've got another chance. >> reporter: gm's second chance came two years ago when the automaker drowning in debt was forced to reorganize. >> tonight general motors filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. >> reporter: backed by $49.5 billion from the federal government,

cnbc's phil lebeau reports. >> reporter: at chrysler's plant in illinois, a reason to cheer. >> it's completely, totally proudly made here in the united states. >> reporter: 1,800 people will be hired as the once-bankrupt automaker adds a third shift to start building the new dodge dart. >> we just added 4,000 since we came out of bankruptcy. let's add more. >> reporter: chrysler is not the only manufacturing hiring. boeing, ge and caterpillar added 25,000 jobs last year. e hiring. boeing, ge and caterpillar added 25,000 jobs last year. debbie johnson in little rock, arkansas, is happy to be on the caterpillar line. >> i think it's a great opportunity for anyone given the opportunity to come here. >> reporter: just as important, some small businesses are putting out the "help wanted" signs. the evergreen supply company in chicago is looking to hire five people. >> we work extremely hard. i felt like the time was right to invest in more personnel. >> reporter: economists see the improvement across the country. >> they were good numbers. we saw broad-based job gains. especially in thin

>> phil lebeau.sir, appreciate, back to the campaign trail and mitt romney's campaign appears to be stalling. while he's getting the governor's endorsement in michigan today, he is out-spending rick santorum in the ad diplomat department. h there is one thing he can't buy and it could cost him this nomination. michael is a special correspondent for "newsweek" and daily beast and writes that mitt romney has an emotional disconnect. in fact, he calls romney the gop's al gore. all right. so let's get into this. you write that romney's emotion deficit is doing to him what republicans, basically what we saw with al gore. expect what you mean by that? >> yeah, sure. when we talk about romney's trouble connecting with the conservative base we tend to talk a lot more about issues, the health care program in massachusetts that was passed or even his religion which some christian conservatives might be suspicious of. but really i think it's more of a personality and temper meant tall kind of thing. temperament

phil lebeau nbc news, chicago. >> steve liesman joins me for a closer look at the jobs number. who has fallen off the radar that is not included in this picture we are looking at, and how deep a hole are we still trying to climb out of? >> reporter: there are two groups that dropped out of the work force. the first those so discouraged they stopped looking for work. another group is the older americans. as americans age, all people age, they tend to work less. two groups, one for economic reasons, one demographic that's been going on for a while. how much needs to be done is said 12. million americans are out of work. 15% of the population is discouraged or working part-time for economic reasons. there is an awful lot of work to do. say 200,000 jobs, think about another five years we could bring down the unemployment rate to a more normal level. >> steve liesman from cnbc, thanks. >>> these numbers have political implications. they were topic one on the campaign trail today. peter alexander joins me from reno, nevada, where the republicans will caucus tomorrow. >> reporter: les

now to talk about the tesla is the ceo, also with us phil lebeau. thank you so much for this interview, take it away. >> thank you, maria. we are out here in the los angeles area for the unveiling of tesla's first suv, the model x, later tonight. we'll have more about that in just a bit. i want to ask you about the model x behind me. this is what wall street is focused on right now. >> yeah. >> this is still on schedule to come out the middle of this year. there was some speculation you will not make that target. are you on that schedule? >> we're very confident to start delivery the middle of this year. more than 8,000 people have put down a deposit. you'll get your car in march of next year. but the rate at which we are receiving deposits has increased every quarter. if you're interested in boying a model x, you should put down your money right now. >> you're selling the top of the line version right now, which i think the base price is 80, 84? >> that's not quite correct. the first deliveries will be the top line version. but if you place an orde

phil lebeau is with the january auto sales data right now. to give us a good window into that area. over to you, phil. >> more than just a pulse of life for the automakers. the best monthly auto sales in the united states happening last month. best since may of 2008. 14.18 with the sales pace. the number that stands out in the big three, chrysler with a whopping increase of 44%, as for the ford automakers, they also did better than expected. the number that stands out here, volkswagen, increase of almost 48%. the best january since 1974 for the german automaker. what's driving all of this? well, auto incentives were held in check in large part because of the tight supply, the pent-up demand, people coming back into the show room. and on the conference calls today, all of the executives were much more optimistic about the annual sales pace this year, hitting $14 million or perhaps going over it for the entire year. so very optimistic tone on the conference call. >> good news certainly for the economy. let's switch gears to airlines. what can you tell us there? >> amr outlining the cut

phil lebeau is in chicago to see whether airlines can weather another increase in fuel cost. and sharon epperson at the nymex will explain why gasoline prices vary so much depending on where you live, sharon. >> mandy, we're seeing a wide divergence in gasoline prices around the nation. in colorado, it's $3 a gallon. southern california, $4.35 a gallon. what is causing this divergence in prices? colorado, montana, wyoming, $3.20 a gallon or under. but then when you go to places like california, $4.20 a gallon, some parts of new york, above $4. other hot spots are alaska and hawaii. a big factor in the divergence in the pump price is the difference in the wholesale price of gasoline. and this reflects regional supply issues that refiners face in various parts of the country, based on the type of crude oil that they process. the wholesale, or the cash price of gasoline that comes from a refiner in the rocky mountain/midwest area may be about $2 20 cents to 40 cents l than an east coast refiner. keep in mind in the midwest and those prices are much lower than what is on the east

back to you. >> thank you very much, phil lebeau. watch the ford stock, not too much of a reaction. still holding on to its gains right now. >> i have a vw bug. they really are amazing cars. >> a new one or -- >> these things are just -- volkswagen has the worldwide momentum. so does fiat. phil lebeau talked earlier to navistar about the engines -- >> they took their guidance for the year down, which is a minor issue. >> could exxon be a force in getting lng to be used in autos and trucks? just a disappointing conference call. i did not like it. >> clean energy is moving in today's session off the back of this notion that there could be a natural gas engine off the navistar news. you had clean on last week or so? >> they are opening a nationwide chain of natural gas. you need it on the interstate. clean energy is doing that. i do want to point out that westport is the maker of the engines. that stock is too hot to handle. i had the ceo on last week. it was at 32. the stock is now -- it's up ten. that's not sustainable. up 11 now. gee

cnbc's phil lebeau joins us now from chicago. phil, is there any end in sight to this rise?> unfortunately there is not, lester. part of the shock and the outcry we're hearing from people is because we have seen gas go up so quickly, 19 straight days gas prices have gone up. what we'll see from here, lester, is a repeat of 2008. people will drive less, more car pooling, people buying will migrate toward small cars, hybrids will become more popular. as far as the outlook for the future, unfortunately, lester, it looks as though we're going to see prices continue to go up. remember, the summer driving season, people drive more, there is greater consumption of gasoline, that's usually when we see gas prices going up. so unfortunately we're seeing this now in the spring which means we could be in for a costly couple of months this summer. >> not what we wanted to hear. phil, thank you very much. >>> a program note, tomorrow, cnbc will have special all day coverage on gas prices. >>> when "nbc nightly news" continues on this sunday evening, hundreds of thousands losing their tax

let's put the rubber to the road and talk to phil lebeau. here's my problem with goodyear.ow that auto sales are going up. we've talked about the replacement cycle for car, the three-year itch or whatever it might be. continental tire's done well. what the heck is wrong with goodyear? why aren't they participating in this sort of auto renaissance we've seen? >> it's been limited participation. keep in mind, when they're talking about a slowing replacement cycle for tires, it's different than the new car cycle. yes, new car sales are going up. but the replacement market is starting to slow down. that's one issue they're facing. their volumes are down 5% in the fourth quarter. their revenue is up 17% because they've had to jack up prices. this is the second point, rubber prices are through the roof. i know it's this way for all the tire makers. but this has hit goodyear in particular very hard. and they're struggling with that. now, you can look at this and say, listen, others have been able to overcome this. but if you look at all the tire makers, they're all in the same boa

thanks very much, phil lebeau.ng to research, page her cities like philadelphia have seen a 50% increase in workers traveling as far as 100 miles to get to work. it is the emergence of the super commuter. joining us now, author of the report, nyu professor mitchell moss. mitchell, how much of this is people traveling every single day, long distances or is this essentially people who now have the flexibility and ability to be able to be at home and maybe only go to their workplace twice a week? >> it is both. we have people traveling every day 100 miles. for example, los angeles to san diego, 50% increase in commuters that distance. texas was in houston, dallas, enormous amount of commuting. the change in america is that people are willing to travel longer because they don't want to uproot their homes. they don't have to be at work every day. sometime goes this to work three days and broadband communications allows them to work the rest of the time from home. i think we are seeing this across the country, not just i

we find our phil lebeau in detroit this morning. we're all looking for some numbers.hat exactly is the street expecting? >> reporter: it's going to be a strange day because ordinarily you have the most profitable year ever for general motors, you would expect people to be celebrating. when you look at the numbers and we'll see next hour here is an expectation of what we'll see, you're not going to look at the top line or the bottom line. you'll be looking at europe and that will get a the lot of focus. the street expecting 41 cents a share, 1.81 billion is what they will earn on revenue of $38.2 billion. bonuses for the white collar work e workers will be lower because the company is going to be missing financial targets. a couple of moves being made yesterday, it announced it's freezing its pension plan, transitioning them over to a 401(k) plan because the pension plan is underfunded by $22 billion. it's been weighing on the bottom line for the company, that's one of the moves it's going to be making but the headline today, most of the headline from general m general

phil lebeau will have more later this hour.t out "women in black" which starred harry potter's daniel radcliffe. futures are in the red, the dow futures down by almost 60 points, the s&p off by 7.8. the dow was pushed to its highest level last week to three and a half years. >> the jobs reports, steve liesman joins us now more. we have some changes -- >> economy, i thought we were going to talk about the football game. >> super bowl. >> i have a whole report on the economy i'll deliver that very fast but andrew needs some guys on the -- >> towel. >> what did you bring? >> raise it a little higher. >> we're sort of all in, because it's been that type of season and you got to -- >> show that. >> the coach and the general manager. >> my question to both of you gentlemen, if you were bradshaw and you had 57 seconds left, would you have gone to your knees? >> i have 8-7 in the pool, other people know, him going in cost me the pool because the giants kick the field goal, 18-17. how else do i look at the game but about me. i think it'

i think phil lebeau said it all. being hugely in our disfavor to now absolutely levelsi leveling the playing field. we also during the restructuring got a lower labor cost, got rid of some almost intractable what we call legacy costs of billions of dollars a year. so i think for the first time, the american automobile industry is fully competitive. >> it's obviously going to make a contribution to president obama's goal of doubling exports during his tenure. can he take the credit for what we're seeing? >> what the kr-- with the -- >> can obama take the credit for the figures on the screen now? >> yes and no. the automotive bailout and the realization something had to be done to save the automobile industry after the '08 meltdown really started with president george bush. it was handed off. the obama administration completed the restructuring. and that was very, very skillfully done. and i would say, yes, the resuscitation of the american automobile industry has to go -- like him or not, that has to go down as a sign

coming up phil lebeau joins us with new proof. . >> prized companies are saying do we really need to send somebody over to europe for a particular business trip? how bad is it this year? new numbers when we return to "squawk box" in just a bit. [ mom ] i think it's fine. it's the new element from at&t so it's w-a-t-e-r proof. cool. what else does it d-o? it's fast. it's 4g lte. 4-g-l-t-e? mhhmm. i think it's time to stop spelling? ok. a-y. [ male announcer ] introducing the waterproof pantech element. buy one for $249.99 and get a 4g burst smartphone free. only from at&t. [ male announcer ] aggressive new styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the new c-class with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. yeah, you -- you know, everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three word

phil lebeau is our man. what's the latest on that? >> mandy, had is the first of several steps we expect general motors to take. the pension has been weighing on the bottom line for the company. it's freezing the plan for 19,000 workers, hired before 2001. they're going to keep their money, but they're either going to roll it over into a 401(k) or get a lump sum payment. here's the reason they're doing this. the pension program, underfunded by $22 billion. this is 9 largest pension plan of any private company in the united states. gm is looking to derisk the pension plan and lower the liability. it's also announcing today that it's lowering salaried worker bonuses due to the fact they're not going to hit the financial targets. and we're going to find out about those financial targets tomorrow morning, the fourth quarter earnings will be announced. revenue expected about $38 billion. that works out to about $1.18 billion. we're going to be talking with gm cfo shortly after the results come out at 7:30. we'll have them first on "squawk

phil lebeau on the phone with the details. >> maria, we learned chrysler has withdrawn its application to the department of energy for a loan of approximately $3.5 billion. that is a loan that who go towards the development and ultimately the manufacturing of a next-generation vehicle, a more fuel-efficient vehicle. many of these loans are used for hybrid technology or electric vehicles. chrysler had been in negotiations with the department of energy, and for some time sergio marchon indicated it was not a slam dunk that they would take out the $3.5 billion loan. today chrysler decided, you know what, given the political environment, given the restrictions that the department of energy would put on those loans, we're going to go ahead and take a pass on taking out that $3.5 billion loan. chrysler, once again, withdrawing its application with the department of energy for a loan totaling approximately $3.5 billion. maria? >> all right. thank you so much, phil le bebe on the breaking news with chrysler. it definitely was among the ropes that the market was stronger today, jobless claims d

phil lebeau was saying warner is in the sweet spot of the industry. this is a stock that's going from 19 zlrs around the same time apple was 300 or so and it's up to around $85 flirting with an all-time high. nobody talks about the name. probably for good reasons. it's a tremendous stock. >> in that sort of area on this chart, this out-performers cummins up, apple up 81%. some of these names are things you wouldn't consider. >> they're not. when i look at these names i think what kind of leverage do they have to allow them to have those returns? some of them don't have leverage. whole foods is one. not a huge amount of financial leverage. that's impressive to me. when you do it on a really levered financial balance sheet to it, that's not as impressive for some of these. pret the tremendous. >> international paper has done it by laying a lot of people off. they're where i live in southern virginia. they laid off an entire city completely and the stock went dramatically higher. rather old story, but a good one none this. >> big thing we're talking abou

phil lebeau has the highlights. >> reporter: subaru is the number one automaker, according to "consumer reports." these guys have steadily been improving. and in 2012, they're at the top of the list, followed by maz sa, toyota, honda and nissan. first of all, toyota having five top picks in the new rankings in terms of five top pick models by "consumer reports," the most since '03. the camry hybrid the top pick. honda, this is going to get a lot of attention. fails to place a model among the top picks for the second time in the last three years. "consumer reports" says these cars, the redesigns are disappointing, fit, finish, a number of other issues with them. honda has been struggling for a while. and ford drops to tenth place from fifth place in "consumer reports'" latest rankings. here's the issue. the technology systems in the latest ford models, the myford touch system, the sync system, are not functioning as effectively as they should be. and that's one reason why the reliability rankings for ford show them dropping from fifth down to tenth. we have more at cnbc.com, the complete

phil lebeau joins us with an exclusive interview with fisker's ceo. ter: good morning, carl. i'm joined by henrik fisker, the founder and ceo of fisker automotive. carl mentioned the d.o.e. loans. where are we in terms of your negotiations with the department of energy? we're going to show everybody the amount of the original loan. where do things stand? >> we started out two years ago with getting a commitment from the department of energy. and we set out some milestones for this loan which were looked at in a way where there was a lot of risk because we hadn't developed this power train yet. this is the most power train in the world, engineered right here in the u.s. we missed some of the milestones but we achieved the biggest milestone, which is the car is here today for sale at a fisker dealership. right now, we're negotiating with the department of energy on the next milestones and obviously we take the learnings from the prior milestones and want to be conservative and make sure we can hit them. >> reporter: here's a statement from the d.o.e., th

you know where i got that story was phil lebeau, phil lebeau came on and talked about the midnight shiftse adding instead of adding people. maybe i ought to plug that into my think being what's happening in the workforce, manufacturing hours up 1.2, and the work was was up 250. the participation rate had could have increased, employed up by 631, so at a time when we thought the household and payroll survey would be coming together they're going further apart so the household story is maybe telling a story of sole proprietors, that's not necessarily good if they're ohm doing a little bit of work. >> gets back to the adp, also i've been talking to big companies, baxter, they're using niche companies for innovation. >> unemployeds fell by 381,000. i don't know, is this a breakout here? >> early earnings? >> i'll get to that in a second. >> certainly fits with the other things we're hearing. the picture has been the only bad news we get is when things aren't good than we expected. so all of this is consistent with improvement. >> talk to rick, we should get rick back in here and see what the

phil, thank you so much. >> thank you, phil lebeau.roit. record profits for gm. >> not only did the president and the investment made by former president bush and continued by president obama ensure the survival of gm and now the continued profitability, it helped as barnicle said on this show many times, the industry in ohio, pennsylvania, and michigan, he's created more jobs as a result, and as much as europe is a challenge and i agree with phil's comments, it goes to show that this global network, this global economic network we live in that all of us are so important, china, i think the u.s. remains the most important, but europe returns, and europe fixing its challenges not only on europe but on american jobs, as well. >> harold, thank you. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a

up next, phil lebeau with data on car loans.uld consumers hit a speed bump when it comes to filling up the car? the national association of convenience scores sounds off on the rise in prices. "squawk box" is coming back with that and more. >> announcer: "squawk box" entered the twittersphere. follow the show and our anchors. be sure to add andrew and becky to the list of must follows. andrew is andrewrsorkin and beckyquickcnbc. breaking news, updates and highlights all morning long. "squawk box" on cnbc. and on twitter. optionsxpress, where you can trade your favorite products, all in one account. keep watch on the markets. or use our exclusive tools to help find ideas. it's powerful, easy-to-use technology for trading stocks, options, and futures. keep trading whether you're at home, in the office, or on the go. optionsxpress, the broker smart traders deserve. open an account today at optionsxpress.com. they refill all my prescriptions. call now to receive a diabetic cookbook free. call to receive your free meter and find out

. >> phil lebeau, thank you. is down more than 3% at this point. >> all right hit by one of those recalls myself. you hate to see it, because you have to go in immediately and you start thinking is this not the great company you thought? >> overall this morning, doug cass calls this the nba market, the nothing but apple market, in that the results, the waiting is distorting the realistic view of cold profits, growth, is it true? >> i think people are saying cannot believe it's up. it is a marvel, but remember ten times earnings, you back out that fiscal year -- >> i got that, but is it masking the rest of the market? russell is down three out of four sessions. >> it could have that effect, yeah, i think that's reasonable. my issue is that i never like to see throughing in. this is a company that represents -- this is a ford motor of our era. you could arc in the 1980s when you saw exxon, i don't want to overlook it. >> somehow in today's session it did set an all-time high, a fresh all-time high. >> it is the wat

phil lebeau live in chicago. >> it's official, gm and the french automaker peugeot officially formed the way that this is going to be structured. two pieces of news here. first of all, they're targeting $2 billion in annual savings through synergies within the next five years, they're going to do this by sharing vehicle platforms, components. essentially a large block to buy raw materials, all of the things that go into the cost side of the business. and here's how it's going to be structured. >> gm 7% stake in peugeot, peugeot issuing shares worth 1 billion euros. as we look for reaction on wall street to this alliance, gm says, the synergies or savings are not realized in the first two years of this deal. it's going to be further down the line, especially if they perform together on joint platforms starting in 2016. again, gm and peugeot officially announcing a joint partnership, global alliance. we want to point out on "power lunch" at 1:30 this afternoon a first on cnbc interview with steve girsky, vice chairman of general motors dispatched over to dm europe by dan actor son. he

phil lebeau is on that and will update us after the break. >>> plus, nat gas. some numbers when "squawk on the street" continues. don't go away. ♪ dave, i've downloaded a virus. yeah. ♪ dave, where are we on the new laptop? it's so slow! i'm calling dave. [ telephone rings ] [ sighs ] i need a new i.t. guy. [ male announcer ] in a small business, technology is all you. staples easy tech experts are here to help. you must be... ...dave. [ male announcer ] with everything from new computers, to set-ups, to tune-ups. stapes. that was easy. >>> i'm bertha coombs at the new york mercantile exchange. numbers from the natural gas inventories from the government. 127 billion cubic feet drawdown. that's closer to the high end of the range of expectations. although still about half of what we saw a year ago for this week. right now we've got natural gas continuing to rise. we'd seen a bit of a technical bounce this morning. it seems as though the price at 2.40 is an area of support. we bounce there. now we are moving higher. as far as the rest of the energy complex, that

cnbc's phil lebeau has the story. >> remember when people said america's auto plants can't compete?rt more vehicles than ever before. what's behind it and why is it going to get even stronger? [ horn honks ] hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. you have to dig a little. fidelity's etf market tracker shows you the big picture on how different asset classes are performing, and it lets you go in for a closer look at areas within a class or sector that may be bucking a larger trend. i'm stephen hett of fidelity investments. the etf market tracker is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explor

boon pickens on "squawk box" and phil lebeau joins us with more. >> i would like to welcome in dan houstonf and a ha of navistar international. joining us from the headquarters in lyle, illinois, let's talk you reissued guidance today, falling short of estimates. yet at the same time, you're pointing towards the future with an announcement with clean energy that you plan to develop a fleet of nav-gas powered trucks, tell us about this announcement. >> yeah, phil, here's why we're excited about it. it gives our customers an opportunity to get into an alternative fuel and get a return on the investment they make, like immediately. it's a great commercial answer for alternative fuels. >> yet, one of the critics out there that i talked with yesterday said listen, it's great that and a hanafistar say going to be moving to nat gas. how quickly will you able to ramp up a fleet of nat gas-powered trucks? >> phil, the demand for it is over the top right now. so it's as fast as we can get the product out there, which would be within the next six months. we're going to make an impact with these produ

fi phil lebeau is live with that.are the growing planes you get with a new plane. the problem is right back here in the "f" fuselage. it's built in boeing's new plant in charleston, south carolina. when you look at the 787 and the production problems they've had, boeing says it has corrected these production issues at its charleston plant. the problem is incorrect shimming found in three dreamliners. what is shimming? the shims are used to strengthen the frame of the plane lengthwise. the problem could, if it's not fixed, lead to loosening of the composite frame. the problem is not considered a safety threat at this point. boeing says we do not expect that there will be an impact on planned dreamliner production rate increases. by the way, boeing currently building 787s at a rate of 2 1/2 per month, even though they didn't make that schedule last month. the goal, 10 per month by the end of 2013. as you take a look at shares of boeing, the focus for investors right now, does this latest problem with the dreamliner, eve

. >> we heard from phil lebeau earlier this morning on ford.rie took looking at auto sales and what it might do. >> i think auto sales, the subtle movement here is 14 million, going to 14.5 million, maybe as high as 16, volkswagen saying watch union pacific, it's the one that's most levered to the automotives. everyone's worried about the transports not confirming the dow, carl, that's because coal is so much a railroad is coal, union pacific the winner, csx, not, norfolk southern not. >> i don't know if they're on the other side of the floor yet or not. >> we're keeping conversation when it comes to greece. the key component is we don't know what the alleged deal is at all. >> the statement is we've reached a deal. what exactly is the deal? i'll believe this deal when i see names on paper of the party leaders and the list of what exactly they have agreed to. now, remember, supposedly they've talked about cuts to the minimum wage and job cuts and this whole search to find $300 million additional in savings. it's very slippery. and the euro, the

they're looking at a 1.1% decline in january auto sales after, you remember, we had phil lebeau on thisrth it anymore? i'll tell you, i'll break a little bit of news, not huge. i know that alan krueger, the president's economic adviser, is working on whether or not the government can make better use of private sector data. we know what that the autos are reporting what the autos are reporting, i don't think they're uniformly lying, that's an outlier there. when i get rid of that i see general strength in different categories. just be careful because a january dollar of retail sales on a seasonal adjusted basis is not as good as a december number, right? because they discount it because of january. but food and beverage up 13, gasoline stations up 14. general merchandise up 2%. department stores up 1%. so, i don't quite see the -- i will tell you the number that carries into gdp here is up 0.7 and that will help the outlook for the gpd, but the number that carries into gdp for december was off sharply. and we discount those because the government gets them from other sources. this feeds

record car exports bring in philip lebeau. philw many cars made here are being driven over there? >> about 1.5 million is the actual number. look, we're on a record pace right now, brian. this year we're probably going to export about 1.65 -- over 2 million by 2015. you see canada and mexico in there, that's what you would expect. but country that might surprise people number two being germany. number three china. and then number four saudi arabia where they love our suvs. the one that stands out to me in the top ten is nigeria where sales of u.s.-imported vehicles -- u.s.-made vehicles up 32%. almost 100,000 are being driven over there. those are vehicles imported to nigeria built here in the united states. this is why we're seeing all the plants expand and add jobs here in the u.s. >> all right. phil, stay with us right now because we're going to look in the job market and drive into the sharp increase in manufacturing job openings maybe like car making. it comes from something we showed everybody yet. if you look at the job open

let's bring in philip lebeau. phil, is it different this time for the dealers? >> it's a lot different, brian. in fact, if you look at what we're seeing in february so far, people have not been scared from going in and buying a new car. certainly moving towards the lower end with the 4 and 6 cylinder, but j.d. power came out and said we expect the sales pace for february to be about 14 million vehicles. that's pretty darn strong. and they've increased estimate for the full year from 13.8 up to 14 million. and they further expect auto sales to hit a pace of 16 million by 2014. anyway you look at this, brian, most people believe you're not going to see real resistance in terms of auto sales until you get well over $4 a gallon. but at $3.61, people might be complaining, but they're not stopping in terms of buying. >> okay. i'll take the other side as far as the car companies, ford and gm and chrysler go, if i'm alan at ford, i want to sell more f-150s than fiestas. i make more money on the trucks. is this going to hurt profitability for the car companies? >> the mi

let's get to philip lebeau. phil. >> mandy, we now have some greater details regarding the proposed job cuts from american airlines. remember we reported earlier today they're going to cut 10,000 to 15,000 jobs, at least that's the plan. it now totals 13,000. nbc news has learned from a source close to the airline that the breakdown goes like this. of that 13,000, 1,400 from management and staff, 400 on the pilot side, 2,300 flight attendants, maintenance and repair 4,600, a lot will be outsourcing. fleet service and other transportation workers 4,200. still making a decision regarding agents and representatives for the airline. again, guys, 13,000, brian, that's at least the initial proposal. understand this has to go through bankruptcy court. a lot can change over time but that's the proposal at this point. >> what percentage of the total work force would that be? >> you have about 87,000 there of that is union work force. so take the 87,000 and cut about 13,000, you're looking at about, what, 17%, 18%, that's just

now, philip lebeau is all over this. phil, is this a clint eastwood auto stock rally or something more substantial? >> i think it's more substantial than that, brian. really, you can look at this bump coming from the shop floor to the trading floor to the show floor. and really we're seeing it with almost every automaker. last thursday we're in illinois just outside of rockford. sergio was talking about how they've added over 4,000 jobs since coming out of bankruptcy. chrysler sales were up 44% in january. that's one of the reasons that they're adding second shifts at their plants around the country. let's trade this story. the trading story is when you look at general motors year-to-date. wow. look at that return. that is a staggering return and a gain of 29%. and by the way, the optimistic goals that we're hearing from gm ceos in the articles today were from ford executives in the past about improvement in terms of industry sales estimates or we're seeing this across the board in the industry. so bhen you hear gm say, liste

philip lebeau is here with all the details. good news, phil>> certainly good news for the people in this area, brian. this means that chrysler once these jobs are added, these 1, 800, by the end of the summer will have added 4,000 since it's come out of bankruptcy. today we had a chance to talk to surge yo coming off of a month where sales are up 34%, chrysler clearly on a roll, is it time for him to step back and say, we made a lot of progress? not at all. listen to what he had to say. >> this is an incredibly short-lived phenomena. you could get off the pe di stool. >> chrysler now providing all of the profits for fiat since fiat is losing money. speaking of europe, we asked him what his thoughts were regarding the situation in europe. he didn't hold back in assessing how bad it is. >> we need to decide, right? we can no longer hypothesize solutions. you need a solution. not looking at alternatives. just make a call and move it on. it could be the wrong one for all i know, but make a call. >> and he says that they need to add a third automak

philip lebeau joins us with the details. phil, december was a pretty dog on good month. does january stack up? >> it's going to be better than december, at least that's the projection at this point, tyler. you need only look at the big three. all of these numbers are better than expected. yeah. there are declines for gm, ford up 7.4%. but chrysler up 44%. we'll talk more about that in a bit. among some of the foreign brands to report, the number that stands out, vw, 47.9% increase. that is the best january since 1974 for the german automaker here in the u.s. as for chrysler, the sales surge is really across the board. all four brands at chrysler posting double-digit gains in january. the ceo says 2013 is really the key, that's when the new model push will be big here in the united states. by the way, the company posting q-4 profit today. also first profitable year since 2005. but when you look at the auto sales acrossed board, one thing stands out. yeah, the suvs and trucks are selling. there's not a slowdown there, but we're really seeing an increase in small cars, part

philip lebeau is at gm headquarters in detroit speaking with the company's cfo. hi, phil. >> hi, sue. when you break down gm's fourth quarter it's a tale of two companies. look at gm's primary profit drivers and in some cases loss drivers around the world, europe, big part of the business, lost $600 million in the fourth quarter. obvious problems too much capacity, sales not doing well, pricing down. but then you look at china and gm's international operations profit of $400 million. we've talked about the strong sales in china for a while. and finally the real profit driver, $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter from north america. the reason there is pretty clear. gm is profiting in north america because of greater demand, sales up for all the automakers, better pricing, they haven't had this kind of pricing power in years, and finally lower costs. you put all that together and gm has a pretty good recipe at this point. but earlier today cfo said they still have some work to do. >> we make good progress this year, but we're just beginning to see some of the benefits and im