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Great races inside November's car-sales numbers

November was a big month for car sales in the United States, up 14 percent from November 2010 to 994,786 units. Analysts expect car sales to total 12.8 million units for the year. Here's a look at some of the trends behind that big number.

Audi ascending

Ford has owned the International Consumer Electronics show the last few years, but now a host of other automakers are making their presence felt at the techno party. Case in point: Audi AG CEO Rupert Stadler's appearance as a keynote speaker Thursday morning at the Las Vegas Hilton. Actor James Cromwell, from I, Robot movie fame, introduced Stadler, who rolled onto stage in an e-tron Spyder concept car.

Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive sets Nurburgring production EV record

The Mercedes SLS AMG ED (pictured) set a new EV lap record at the Nurburgring Just as Audi decides that the R8 e-Tron isn’t a production viable option, Mercedes decides to prove there is potential for electric cars at the very high end. The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive has been to the Nurburgring and set a new lap record for a production electric car of just 7 minutes 55 seconds. The SLS AMG ED, which goes on sale very soon at more than £300k, may weigh a chunk more than a regular SLS (550kg more), but it gets plenty of help from its four electric motors – one at each corner – to overcome the weight of its batteries with 751bhp and 737lb/ft of torque on hand.