AUTOS

U.S.-Built Vehicle Sales Drop 3.1%: Sales of domestically built cars and trucks fell 3.1% in early January, reflecting the end of special year-end deals on some models, auto makers’ figures show. Average daily car sales were off 4.5%, and trucks were down 1.2%. Based on the first 10 days of January, cars sold at a projected annual sales rate of 5.3 million--a number that matches the Jan. 1-10 period of 1992 but falls far below the 6.2-million annual rate for December, 1992. The projected annual sales rate for light trucks was 3.8 million. Cars and trucks sold at a daily rate of 20,801 compared to 21,469 in last year’s period. There were seven selling days in the period this year and eight last year.