TROY, MI—Automotive supplier Toyoda Gosei North America Corp. will invest $7.9 million to expand its headquarters here. The expansion will create 51 jobs.

DETROIT—A federal grand jury has indicted a former top-tier global sales executive at Takata Corp. on a charge of participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices for seat belts, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation is building the fifth and sixth of seven custom assembly and test systems for a Tier 1 automotive supplier. The systems will produce steering assemblies.

DETROIT—Brisk demand for SUVs and pickup trucks—and five sunny weekends—pushed U.S. auto sales to a nine-year high in May.

The late novelist John Le Carré once said, “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” As it turns out, what was good advice for spies is equally good for manufacturing and design engineers.

CANTON, MS—Nissan will add 500 new jobs at its assembly plant here to produce the 2015 Nissan Murano crossover later this fall.

DETROIT—Autoliv Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million to various groups of plaintiffs in a massive civil lawsuit over global automotive supplier price-fixing, making it the fourth company to do so in the past year.

DETROIT—The United Auto Workers union wants to boost dues by 25 percent to rebuild its strike fund before entering into contractor negotiations next year.

MERIDIAN, MS—Auto parts manufacturer Tower International will spend $15 million to expand operations at its assembly plant here.

DETROIT—A federal grand jury has charged a Japanese executive with conspiring to fix prices on auto parts. According to an indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court here, Hitoshi Hirano, while executive managing director at Tokai Rika Co. Ltd., fixed prices of heater control panels sold to Toyota Motor Corp. between 2003 and 2010.