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Why car sales are strong in the US

Credit: Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) -- U.S. auto sales hit a five-year high in 2012, as low interest rates, improving consumer confidence and -- most important -- some great new cars drew buyers into dealerships. Sales of new cars and trucks are expected to reach 14.5 million for 2012, up 13 percent from the year before. That not quite a return to the boom times of 2005, when sales hit 17 million. But sales are 40 percent higher than they were at the depths of the recession in 2009. Here are the highlights and lowlights of 2012, and what's coming from the industry in 2013: (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)