At the season-opening Circle K Winternationals, John Force set a new national ET record and notched his 139th career Funny Car victory. Get all the latest car biz news in the Executive Briefing. -John Force Racing photo
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+ With 3,400 new jobs added in January, employment in the U.S. automotive sector has now surpassed September 2008 levels. More at The Detroit News.
+ To reduce excess inventories, Ford and General Motors are offering hefty discounts and incentives of up to $7,000 on full-size pickups. More at Reuters.
+ Jaguar Land Rover, now owned by Tata Motors, is set to begin production of Jaguar XJ sedans at Tata’s Pune, India plant. More at Automotive Business Review.
+ Former Ford chief engineer Rob Stevens has been named VP of strategy at the alternative fuels division of Roush Enterprises, Roush CleanTech. More at Crain’s Detroit Business.
+ Champ and Indy car veteran Alex Tagliani will race stock cars full time in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2014. More at National Speed Sport News.
+ At the Chicago Auto Show, Nissan North America VP Fred Diaz unveiled a prototype Frontier midsize pickup powered by a Cummins 200 hp diesel. More at MLive.
+ Toyota is reportedly close to a deal to pay more than $1 billion to end a U.S. criminal probe of its handling of unintended acceleration cases. More at The Wall Street Journal.
+ At the season-opening NHRA Winternationals, the pro category winners were Khalid alBalooshi in Top Fuel, John Force in Funny Car, and Jason Line in Pro Stock. More at NBC Sports.
For the previous Executive Briefing from February 7, click here.
If John Force were a football player instead of a drag racer, he would have been elected President by now. If Ford is bummed because 6-time champ Jimmy Johnson gets all the nattention, then they should throw a little love Force’s way. I think he could sell pickups just as well as Dennis Leary, and he’s as much fun to be around.