HEMET, CA—Forest River Inc., a recreational vehicle manufacturer, has purchased an old factory here for a new assembly plant. The factory will begin production in early 2015 and is expected to employ 200 to 300 people at full production.
PALMDALE, CA—A Japanese company’s much-celebrated plans to build a light-rail manufacturing plant here appear all but dead after months of clashes with local labor unions and community groups. Kinkisharyo International said it is now looking at factory sites outside California.
FREMONT, CA—Tesla Motors Inc. has halted production at its assembly plant here for the first time as it adds robots to accelerate production of electric sedans and prepares to build its Model X sport-utility vehicle. The $100 million upgrade will add 25 robots with a goal of boosting production by 25 percent.
LANCASTER, CA—The first electric buses have rolled out of BYD Motors’ assembly plant here. The factory, which has about 60 employees, hopes to increase its workforce and have the capacity to produce 1,000 buses a year within two decades.
MILPITAS, CA—Flextronics has installed a flexible automated assembly line at its factory here that can be quickly changed to adapt to new products or production processes.
EL SEGUNDO, CA—Millennium Space Systems has opened a new 70,000-square-foot headquarters and assembly plant here. The factory can produce more than 40 satellites simultaneously.
LONG BEACH, CA—Shimadzu Precision Instruments Inc., which makes flight control systems, air management systems and cockpit display systems, will build a new assembly plant here.
FOREST CITY, NC—Team Air Inc., a manufacturer of commercial and industrial HVAC equipment, is investing $4.2 million to build a new assembly plant here. The facility is expected to employ 70.
FREMONT, CA—Panasonic, along with some Japanese materials suppliers, is reportedly planning to invest some $977 million in a U.S. factory to make lithium-ion car batteries.
