HAMBACH, France—Daimler wants workers at its Smart Car assembly plant here to put in more hours and has hinted that it may shift production if it cannot reach an agreement.

KANSAS CITY, MO—Ford Motor Co. is scrambling to find enough steel frames to keep up with demand for its best-selling F-150 truck.

HUNTSVILLE, AL—Construction on Polaris Industries’s new ATV assembly plant here is progressing quickly. The $48 million 775,000-square-foot facility is on track for a spring 2016 startup.

DETROIT—Ford engineers have morphed into exterminators—and for good reason. A common form of spider, it turns out, likes to nest under the hood in vehicles. That sounds harmless enough, but it can cause big problems, including possible fuel tank cracks that can ignite vehicle fires.

SPARTANBURG, SC—BMW is constructing a 527,000-square-foot body shop at its assembly plant here. The facility will include more than 650 robots.

TOLEDO, OH—Johnson Controls is expanding the production of absorbent glass mat batteries for automotive applications. Since 2012, the automotive supplier has devoted $130 million to manufacturing this battery technology.

FLINT, MI—GM will invest $877 million to set up a new body shop at its assembly plant here, its oldest North American factory.

Greater use of aluminum and other lightweight materials is increasing demand for structural blind rivets.

Data from a traceability system can be used for process improvement, defect resolution and regulatory compliance.