Bronx fire, COVID-19, Golden Globes, Brazil cliff: The weekend’s biggest news

At minimum 19 killed, dozens hurt in huge Bronx apartment fireplace

At the very least 19 people, which includes nine children, have been killed and dozens were being injured in a five-alarm fire likely ignited by a malfunctioning moveable house heater at a Bronx apartment elaborate on Sunday, New York Town Mayor Eric Adams explained. In all, additional than five dozen people were being harm in the city’s deadliest fireplace in additional than 30 several years. Victims have been identified on every single ground of the setting up. The fireplace broke out in a duplex condominium on the 2nd and third floor of the 19-story Twin Parks North West sophisticated in New York City’s West Bronx, according to the Fire Division of New York. A 5-alarm fire is the greatest response to a blaze. The hearth office claimed there were over 200 members responding to the scene. At least 32 persons ended up hospitalized, and officials said most of the injuries came from men and women suffering from smoke inhalation.

Firefighters work the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building that erupted in the morning on January 9, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Reports indicate over 50 people were injured.

Comedian, beloved Tv dad Bob Saget dies at 65

Bob Saget, the comedian and star of TV’s “Whole Dwelling” has died. He was 65. Saget, who was very best acknowledged for his purpose as widowed father Danny Tanner in ABC’s “Comprehensive Property” was observed dead in his hotel home at the RItz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, law enforcement claimed. “Before currently, deputies have been referred to as to the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes for a connect with about an unresponsive male in a resort room,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Business tweeted Sunday. “The guy was discovered as Robert Saget & pronounced deceased on scene. Detectives located no indications of foul play or drug use.” Saget, the host of “America’s Funniest Dwelling Movies” from 1989 to 1997,  had been traveling the place with the “I Do not Do Detrimental Tour” and done a two-hour established in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday.

Bob Saget, comedian and star of TV's "Full House" has died. He was 65. The actor was found dead in his hotel room in Orlando, Florida, police said.

US reaches 700,000 new COVID-19 conditions day by day

The U.S. is now averaging extra than 700,000 new coronavirus situations per day, a United states of america Currently examination of Johns Hopkins University facts exhibits. The nation described about 4.91 million situations in the week ending Saturday. Which is far more situations noted in seven days than the country documented in April, May perhaps, June and July 2021 mixed. At the most recent tempo, eight Americans are described constructive each second. The past 5 times of U.S. cases are the five one-best case counts of the total pandemic. “I would not be surprised at all if we go above a million scenarios per working day,” Fauci explained to Information 4 New York in an job interview Saturday. And when the prevalent omicron variant is milder on a for each-circumstance basis, quick-swelling numbers of new conditions are burdening hospitals. A federal report launched Saturday reveals about 138,000 COVID-19 sufferers in medical center beds, up 32{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from the earlier 7 days.

Angela Hanson, right, a certified medical assistant with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, administers a COVID-19 test on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022 in Springfield, Mo.

Male who acquired Kyle Rittenhouse an AR-15 made use of in Kenosha shootings agrees to plea deal

Kyle Rittenhouse’s buddy, who acquired him an assault-design rifle when he was only 17, has agreed to plead no contest to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a non-legal citation, and stay clear of convictions on the two felonies he’d been dealing with. Dominick Black, 20, was billed in November with two counts of providing a dangerous weapon to a insignificant, resulting in death. The two counts associated to Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, the protesters Rittenhouse fatally shot the night time of Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha. Black was 18 when he ordered the rifle for Rittenhouse, who was also young then to lawfully obtain the weapon. In August, Rittenhouse applied it to destroy two men and women throughout protests in Kenosha. In November, a jury found him not responsible, based mostly on his assert of self-defense. Judge Schroeder could reject the deal for Black or however just dismiss the first felony counts centered on his ruling about the minors-with-firearms law in the Rittenhouse circumstance.

Dominick Black, a friend of Kyle Rittenhouse who accompanied him to Kenosha, is shown Rittenhouse's rifle during testimony. Black was the first witness to testify in Rittenhouse's trial.

Actual brief

2022 NFL Playoffs: Who’s In, Who’s Out?

The drama about the ultimate teams that would make the N.F.L. postseason was not cleared up until finally the previous possible second of the common time, when the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday evening on a subject aim on the previous enjoy of overtime to declare just one of two remaining wild card berths in the A.F.C.

The Raiders’ 35-32 defeat of the Chargers finished the period for Los Angeles, and due to the fact the Indianapolis Colts (9-8) were being upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-14) previously on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1) sneaked into the playoff field on the toughness of a win over the Baltimore Ravens.

The Raiders and Chargers could have equally produced the playoffs with a tie, and for a great deal of overtime it seemed as if the groups could possibly be pleased without having a victory. But Daniel Carlson kicked a industry target as time expired to give Las Vegas the get, and a a little a lot more favorable playoff seeding.

The wild scenarios created the final video game of the period of abnormal consequence in the initially N.F.L. period with an expanded, 17-game normal year. The previous day of the time, which prolonged into the 2nd weekend of 2022, provided 5 A.F.C. groups fighting for the two remaining berths and the San Francisco 49ers taking the final place in the N.F.C. with a gain in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams.

The two online games finished on Saturday went in accordance to seed, retaining the winners alive for bigger playoff seeding. The Kansas City Chiefs, who defeat the Denver Broncos, remained in the jogging for the top seed in the A.F.C. and a very first-spherical bye, and ended any long-shot likelihood that the New England Patriots or Cincinnati Bengals may take the No. 1 seed for them selves.

The late activity involving the playoff-sure Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles was mainly meaningless — and lifeless, due to the fact the Eagles rested their beginning quarterback, Jalen Hurts, and had a raft of Covid-19-connected absences — but it served identify both teams’ seeding in the N.F.C.

The Eagles, for instance, will perform the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-4). The Bucs cruised into the postseason with an straightforward get at property that saw them established the team record for regular-season wins they experienced established in their Super Bowl-profitable time in 2002.

In the course of the early games on Sunday, the Tennessee Titans sewed up the No. 1 seed in the A.F.C. by keeping off the lowly Houston Texans. That wiped out Kansas City’s hopes for the leading seed and the to start with-spherical bye.

The Colts unsuccessful to clinch one particular of the two remaining A.F.C. wild-card berths by losing to the Jaguars, 1 of the league’s worst groups. A Colts victory would have shut the door on the playoffs for both of those the Ravens and the Steelers.

The Bengals (10-6) had already received the A.F.C. North, but with Kansas City’s acquire on Saturday, their sport in opposition to the Cleveland Browns did not aid their playoff seeding.

The Buffalo Expenditures (11-6) and the Patriots (10-7), who experienced equally secured playoff spots before Sunday, were being battling for the A.F.C. East crown, which considerably affected their seeding. The Charges conquer the Jets (4-13) and the Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins (9-8), handing the division crown to the Bills and forcing the Patriots to travel following weekend … to Buffalo.

The Arizona Cardinals (11-6) shed a chance to claim the N.F.C. West by falling short from the Seattle Seahawks (7-10), handing the divisional title to the Los Angeles Rams (12-5), who misplaced to the San Francisco 49ers (10-7) in time beyond regulation.

The 49ers’ victory also eradicated the New Orleans Saints (9-8), who defeat the Atlanta Falcons (7-10).

The Green Bay Packers (13-4) experienced previously clinched the leading seed and a initial-round bye in the N.F.C.

Coronavirus US: Nearly a quarter of hospitals are reporting a critical staff shortage as Omicron drives a rise in Covid-19 cases

“Given how much infection there is, our hospitals really are at the brink right now,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, told CNN on Sunday.

Of the approximately 5,000 hospitals that reported this data to HHS on Saturday, nearly 1,200 — about 1 in 4 — said they are currently experiencing a critical staffing shortage, the largest share of the entire pandemic. More than 100 other hospitals said they anticipate a shortage within the next week.

The US health care system is Jha’s greatest concern, he said, noting the Omicron surge could hamper its capacity to care for patients suffering from conditions other than Covid-19.

“The health care system is not just designed to take care of people with Covid … it’s designed to take care of kids with appendicitis and people who have heart attacks and get into car accidents,” he said.

“And all of that is going to be much, much more difficult because we have a large proportion of the population that is not vaccinated, plenty of high risk people who are not boosted,” he said. “That combination sets up a large pool of people who as they get infected will end up really straining the resources we have in the hospitals today.”

These staff shortages are growing as frontline health care workers are either infected or forced to quarantine due to exposure to Covid-19 just as the demand for treatment skyrockets: More than 138,000 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals as of Saturday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s not far from the all-time peak (about 142,200 in mid-January 2021) and an increase from around 45,000 in early November.
To safeguard hospital capacity, some facilities are forced to cut elective surgeries. In New York, for example, 40 hospitals — mainly in the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes and central regions — have been told to stop nonessential elective operations for at least two weeks because of low patient bed capacity, the state health department said Saturday.
What to know if you caught Covid-19 over the holidays

The University of Kansas Health System is also close to implementing crisis standards of care, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven Stites said Saturday, telling CNN, “At some point … we’re too overwhelmed to do any of our normal daily work.”

“At that point we have to turn on a switch that says we got to triage the people we can help the most,” he said, “and that means we’ve have to let some people die who we might have been able to help but we weren’t sure about — they were too far gone or had too much of an injury, or maybe we can’t get to that trauma that just came in.”

Stites said two waves were hitting Kansas simultaneously — with Delta accelerating post-Thanksgiving, to be met by Omicron — describing it as “almost a double pandemic.” The vast majority of those being hospitalized are unvaccinated, Stites said.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN on Saturday the next several weeks will “look bad in many American cities.”

“Forty hospitals in New York just canceled elective procedures. The DC Hospital Association, where I work, has asked the DC government for permission for hospitals to enact crisis standards of care,” he said. “And that’s coming to every city in the United States.”

Los Angeles County sees record weekly case numbers

About 62.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the total US population — 208 million people — is fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 75.4 million people have received a booster dose, meaning 23{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the total US population is fully vaccinated and boosted.

But still about 21{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the eligible population, or 65.5 million people 5 and older, have not received a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the CDC data show.

Nationwide, 39 states are reporting a 50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} or greater increase in cases during the past week compared to the previous week, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday, the seven-day average of new daily cases in the US was 701,199, per JHU data.

Two healthcare providers told CNN they’d been forced to prioritize Covid-19 testing for certain people due to a spike in demand.

What the US can expect next from the Covid surge

Last week, multiple UW Medicine locations in Washington started prioritizing testing solely for people “who have symptoms of respiratory illness or who have a known exposure to COVID-19,” spokesperson Susan Gregg told CNN. People without symptoms are not being tested, Gregg said, “due to the high volume of omicron cases that are being processed in our laboratory.”

The University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill is also restricting Covid-19 tests to those exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms, as well as university employees and those requiring a test prior to a surgery, according to UNC Health Director of News Alan M. Wolf.

Some localities are now seeing the most new cases they’ve seen the whole pandemic, including Los Angeles County.

On Saturday, the county reported more than 200,000 confirmed cases over the previous seven days — the highest number of cases in one week since the start of the pandemic, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Hospitalizations doubled over the week to 3,200 and there were 135 Covid-related deaths, the department said.

The rise in infections is also hitting Los Angeles’ children hard.

At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the positivity rate for children tested for Covid-19 has increased from 17.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in December to 45{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to date in January, according to CHLA Medical Director Dr. Michael Smit. 

CHLA currently has 41 patients in-house who have tested positive for Covid-19, and roughly one quarter of the children admitted to the facility with Covid-19 require admission to the pediatric ICU, with some requiring intubation, Smit told CNN on Saturday.

The rise in cases comes just as Los Angeles students are preparing to return to in-person classes Tuesday.

What to know if you caught Covid-19 over the holidays

Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the country, is requiring all students and employees to show a negative Covid-19 test result before returning to the classroom.

The baseline test requirement was implemented at the beginning of the school year in August, and the district announced a week ago both the baseline test, along with required weekly testing for employees and students would continue through January, given the current surge.

On Sunday, LAUSD Board of Education President Kelly Gonez said about 50,000 positive Covid-19 cases had been identified as a result of the required testing, stopping those students and employees from enter school buildings Tuesday.

Disputes over in-person learning

In response to rising pediatric infections, disputes over whether in-person learning is ideal during the Omicron surge and how students can safely attend school are playing out in various school districts this week.

For the week ending December 30, children accounted for 17.7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of new reported cases in the US, the American Academy of Pediatrics said, noting a record 325,00 new cases among children — a 64{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase from the week prior.

Chicago Teachers Union offers a new proposal
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system has canceled classes since Wednesday due to a dispute between city officials and the teachers union over returning to the classroom. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted Tuesday to teach remotely due to the Covid-19 surge, but the school district canceled classes, saying schools were safe and it wanted in-person learning.

CTU have said conditions are unsafe, citing in part inadequate staffing and testing. They say they want more testing, along with additional mitigation protocols.

The CTU presented a new proposal to Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday which included a resumption of virtual learning for CPS students beginning Wednesday and in-person instruction on January 18 unless health officials determine it’s not safe. City officials rejected the proposal — though it accepted some requests, like providing KN95 masks for all staff and students — saying it looked forward “to continued negotiations to reach an agreement.”

Dr. Julie Morita, the former Chicago health commissioner and executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said children and teachers can safely be in the classroom with certain measures, like requiring vaccinations and masks, ensuring good ventilation and testing capacity.

“When those systems are in place, children and teachers can be safely in the school environment,” she said, “but those systems have to be in place.”

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union and supporters stage a car caravan protest outside City Hall in the Loop, Wednesday evening, January 5, 2022.

Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain, medical director at the Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN schools could be safe but she believes they are currently “high-risk.”

“Not because of the nature of schools in and of themselves,” she said, “but because although we know what tools are available to us and we have the tools to mitigate those risks, they are not being employed adequately.”

“Students need proper access to testing, we need to give students and staff high quality masks,” she said. “Let’s employ HEPA filters in schools to increase ventilation and increase air circulation.

In Georgia, public school teachers who test positive for Covid-19 no longer have to isolate before returning to school if they are asymptomatic and wear a mask, and contact tracing in schools is no longer required, according to a letter to school leaders released Thursday from Gov. Brian Kemp and public health commissioner Kathleen Toomey.

But Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, believes the changes are the “absolute wrong thing to do at the absolute worst time.” Educators want to be in classrooms with their students, she said, “but that should be achieved by keeping people healthy.

“We know that there are increasing cases in our children, there’s increasing hospitalizations in our children,” she told CNN Saturday, “and this action shows a lack of regard for the health and safety of educators, students and our families.”

CNN’s Tina Burnside, Deidre McPhillips, Travis Caldwell, Keith Allen, Raja Razek, Natasha Chen and Anna-Maja Rappard contributed to this report.

Kate Middleton at 40: How the Duchess of Cambridge’s style evolved from youthful sparkle to timeless elegance

Penned by Leah Dolan, CNN

Because signing up for the royal loved ones in 2011, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — recognised by lots of as Kate — has rarely faltered on her unwritten obligation to look manicured and immaculately dressed in the public eye. And even though the duchess is renowned for her preppy tweeds and tailor-made blazers, she acquired her accurate vogue qualifications by way of a sharp eye for celebration have on.
Consider, for case in point, the gilded Jenny Packham dress she wore for the 2021 premiere of “No Time to Die” that set the world wide web alight, or her customized Alexander McQueen wedding day costume with detailing so specific that seamstresses had to swap their stitching needles each and every three several hours, in accordance to British Vogue.

But even right before she became a duchess, a youthful Kate Middleton stored her wardrobe very well stocked with statement seems. For the queen-consort-in-waiting’s 40th birthday, we glance back at some of her most effective outfits, from her heady school days to the most official of royal situations.

The Duchess shone in a golden gown for the latest Bond premiere in London.

The Duchess shone in a golden robe for the latest Bond premiere in London. Credit score: Chris Jackson/Getty Pictures

The university a long time

Whilst a pre-royal Kate was learning at St Andrew’s College in Scotland, her social everyday living seemed equivalent to that of numerous persons her age. Bunched in the again of taxi cabs, she may well have worn shorter hemlines than she does now, but Kate’s love for dressing up was obvious from the get started.

Kate Middleton wears sequins at a charity roller disco in London in 2008.

Kate Middleton wears sequins at a charity roller disco in London in 2008. Credit score: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Photos

Paparazzi pics snapped of Kate as a vivid-eyed 20-some thing advise a penchant for sparkle: glittering black mini attire and emerald eco-friendly sequin halter-neck tops were go-to seems to be. Even in advance of she grew to become the a single of the world’s most photographed females, her sartorial sensibility skewed daring — for occasion, if good friends wore all-black ensembles for a evening on the city, Kate donned a baroque-printed silk dress.

Royal engagements

Currently, a 10 years immediately after she married into the royal household, the duchess is even now reaching for sequins. At the Uk-Africa Financial investment Summit at Buckingham Palace in January 2020 she wore a shimmering red sequin and lace costume from Needle & Thread, and just previous 12 months she arrived at London’s Royal Albert Corridor wearing a stunning malachite-colored gown.

In honor of Kate’s 40th, Kensington Palace introduced 3 new portraits of the duchess, shot by Paolo Roversi. For the shoot, she wore diamond and pearl earrings belonging to Diana, Princess of Wales, paying homage to her late mother-in-legislation. Credit: Paolo Roversi/Kensington Palace/AP

But not every royal engagement needs the very same amount of pizazz — on quite a few official instances, the duchess has opted for understated magnificence. On the initially day of previous year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, she stepped out in a accurate blue Eponine coat costume that completed just earlier mentioned her ankles. With structured shoulders and single-breast button detailing at the waistline, it was a masterclass in chic minimalism that impressed without having distracting from the essential troubles at hand.
The Duchess wore a simple, structured coat dress for the climate summit.

The Duchess wore a basic, structured coat gown for the local weather summit. Credit score: Daniel Leal/AFP/Pool/Getty Photographs

Purple-carpet moments

When the event calls for opulence, the duchess leans on trustworthy designers like Jenny Packham and Alexander McQueen. In 2011, just months soon after her Westminster Abbey marriage, Kate set up herself as an night put on aficionado when she wore a vintage strapless black velvet McQueen robe to a armed service ball.

Her classic velvet McQueen with lace detailing cemented Middleton as one-to-watch in the fashion space.

Her traditional velvet McQueen with lace detailing cemented Middleton as 1-to-look at in the vogue space. Credit history: Arthur Edwards/AFP/Getty Visuals

Each event since has been an option to debut a new silhouette, from empire waistlines and off-shoulder detailing to the ethereal powder-blue Jenny Packham robe she wore at the 2015 premiere of “Spectre.” Her high-class seems to be are normally used to converse wider values, much too, particularly when it will come to the local climate disaster. In 2020, the duchess was 1 of the number of BAFTA attendees to choose heed of the award ceremony’s recycled costume code, selecting a white and gold embellished Alexander McQueen robe she had very first worn all through a state dinner in 2012.

Business news at a glance

Toyota Overtakes GM as Bestselling Auto Maker in U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp.

has for the first time overtaken

General Motors Co.

as the U.S.’s top-selling car company by annual sales, a change prompted largely by a global computer-chip shortage that dealt an uneven blow to the car business.

The Japanese auto maker, which for decades has worked to expand its presence in the U.S., outsold GM by roughly 114,000 vehicles in 2021. Toyota’s total U.S. sales of 2.3 million rose about 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} compared with 2020, the company said Tuesday.

By contrast, GM reported a nearly 13{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} slide in results for a total of 2.2 million vehicles sold in 2021, as the semiconductor shortage took a bigger toll on the company’s manufacturing operations and left dealers with fewer vehicles to sell. GM had been the No. 1 auto seller in the U.S. since 1931, according to trade publication Automotive News.

Toyota has largely benefited from its decision to stockpile computer chips, which are used in an array of vehicle electronics. It bet earlier than most other auto makers on a recovering U.S. car market and cut parts and production orders less sharply than rivals, making it better prepared for an eventual surge in consumer demand.

While Toyota executives say they were successful in navigating some of last year’s supply-chain constraints, they don’t view the lead over GM as a permanent shift in the industry’s closely watched sales rankings.

“To be clear, this is not our goal, nor do we see it as sustainable,” said

Jack Hollis,

Toyota’s senior vice president of operations in North America. He added that the company doesn’t expect to use its dethroning of GM last year in its advertising.

A GM spokesman declined to comment on the company’s sales ranking. He said GM has given priority to its bestselling products—large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles—and expects sales growth this year as the chip shortage abates.

Other foreign auto makers and electric-car maker

Tesla Inc.

also surged ahead in U.S. sales in 2021, siphoning market share from Detroit, according to company reports and analyst forecasts.

Hyundai Motor Co.

of South Korea, for the second year in a row, notched sizable share gains, selling 738,081 vehicles in 2021 and boosting sales by about 19{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} over the prior year, the company said Tuesday.

Mazda Motor Corp.

and

Honda Motor Co.

also posted stronger-than-average sales last year, company results show.

Need more horsepower? Want automated driving? Auto makers such as Dodge, Polestar and Jeep are exploring over-the-air updates like these as a way to generate new revenue streams and retain brand loyalty. WSJ’s George Downs explores whether car manufacturers excel at software development. Photo illustration: George Downs

Research firm Cox Automotive estimates Tesla’s U.S. sales jumped 61{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} over the prior year, achieving the biggest percentage gain among auto makers. Tesla doesn’t break out U.S. sales.

Overall, auto makers sold just shy of 15 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to a forecast from research firm J.D. Power. That total would be up slightly from 2020, when the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic hurt car sales for part of that year. But it is a sharp drop from the mark of 17 million vehicles that the industry had eclipsed for five straight years before that.

Auto stocks rallied Tuesday after the latest sales results and news that

Ford Motor Co.

plans to double production of its new all-electric truck, after a rise in reservations.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Did you buy a new car in 2021, or do you plan to buy one in 2022? Why, or why not? Join the conversation below.

Ford’s

stock closed nearly 12{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} higher Tuesday. GM’s stock rose 7.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, while Toyota’s American depositary receipts hit a new all-time high of $199.19, up nearly 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} at Tuesday’s close.

U.S. vehicle sales set a blistering pace last spring as American car shoppers surfaced, looking to spend their savings from the pandemic lockdown on new wheels. But by summer, the chip shortage that had been hobbling factory schedules world-wide resulted in nearly bare dealership lots, curbing sales in the second half of 2021.

Forecasters expect another muted year of vehicle sales, even though the chip shortage is expected to gradually ease in coming months. Auto executives have said it could take the entire year to substantially replenish dealership inventories, which likely would curtail sales despite what dealers say is strong underlying demand.

Edmunds.com expects U.S. sales to reach 15.2 million vehicles in 2022, up slightly from the expected final numbers from last year. Analysts at RBC Capital are more bullish, pegging the total at roughly 15.8 million vehicles, with an expected surge later in the year as supply improves.

GM was among the hardest hit by the chip shortage and other supply-chain problems.



Photo:

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Toyota executives said they expected U.S. auto sales to grow to about 16.5 million vehicles this year, lifted by historically low interest rates, record stock-market performance and higher savings rates that would help support shoppers.

Lofty prices are expected to persist, as the seller’s market created by the inventory crunch continues, analysts said. The average price paid for a new vehicle hit a record $45,700 in December, 20{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} higher than a year earlier, J.D. Power estimates.

Record used-vehicle pricing is contributing to strong new-car prices, J.D. Power said, because buyers trading in their old vehicles have more money to work with. The average trade-in vehicle in December was worth about $10,200, up from about $4,600 a year earlier, the firm said.

“Pent-up consumer demand will keep inventory levels near historical lows,” likely leading to more record pricing this year, said

Thomas King,

president of data and analytics at J.D. Power.

The uneven disruption to production schedules jumbled the pecking order among auto makers in 2021. While the chip shortage and other supply-chain problems have affected all auto makers, GM and Ford were among the hardest hit, each having scrapped more than 600,000 planned vehicles in North America, according to research firm AutoForecast Solutions LLC.

Stellantis

NV, the global auto maker that owns Jeep, Ram and other U.S.-sold auto brands, was also disproportionately affected by the chip crisis. It reported total U.S. sales of about 1.78 million for 2021, down 2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from the prior year.

Ford plans to report 2021 sales results on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said it planned to double its goal for manufacturing its new electric version of the F-150 pickup truck, targeting 150,000 a year. Ford said the increased production plans reflect high demand for the model, with about 200,000 reservations placed to buy one of the trucks.

Other sales winners included Asian and European brands, as well as Tesla, which said Sunday that global deliveries jumped 87{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in 2021, to 936,000 vehicles. Tesla doesn’t break out sales figures regionally. Cox estimated that its U.S. market share rose to 2.2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} last year—about even with

Mercedes-Benz

—from 1.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Randy Parker,

head of national sales for Hyundai Motor America, said the auto maker took several steps to counter the market challenges, including leaning more on online sales operations and encouraging dealers to line up sales for vehicles that have yet to hit the lot.

He said he expects Hyundai to keep sharpening its efforts into 2022, aiming to build on its recent share gains.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Mr. Parker said. “I think that we adapted to the crisis extremely well.”

contributed to this article.

How the Global Chip Shortage Affects You

Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com and Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com

Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8