NORTH CHARLESTON, SC—Mercedes-Benz broke ground last week for a $500 million assembly plant here to build Sprinter vans.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA—Automotive supplier Faurecia is working with Swisslog Warehouse & Distribution Solutions to prepare its assembly plant here for Industry 4.0.

CHATTANOOGA, TN—Volkswagen is planning to build electric vehicles in North America by 2020, in a bid to regain its lost image following the diesel emission scandal.

LANSING, MI—BorgWarner Inc. plans to spend $27 million to expand its assembly plant, a project expected to add 76 jobs.

FLAT ROCK, MI—No one was hurt after a fire started outside Ford’s assembly plant here Tuesday evening. Racks outside the plant caught on fire and spread flames to the building.

COLOGNE, Germany—Workers at Ford’s assembly plant here are working hand-in-hand with collaborative robots to fit shock absorbers to cars.

BATTLE CREEK, MI—Global automotive supplier DENSO will invest more than $37 million in machinery and equipment to expand automation at its assembly plant here.

TOLEDO, OH—FCA US will invest more than $1 billion in its assembly plants in Illinois and Ohio to retool them to increase production of the Jeep Cherokee and Wrangler.

DETROIT—Robotic glove technology developed out of a partnership between General Motors and NASA for use on the International Space Station is finding new life on Earth in health care, manufacturing and other industrial applications through a licensing agreement between GM and Bioservo Technologies AB, a Swedish medical technology company.

LAURENS, SC—Yanfeng Automotive Interiors plans to build a $71 million assembly plant here to supply interior assemblies for BMW. The factory is expected to create 35 new jobs.