Looking back on the campaign, it was refreshing to hear candidates from both parties tout the importance of U.S. manufacturing.

DETROIT—The Treasury Department will sell its remaining stake in General Motors in the next year or so, winding down a $50 billion bailout that saved the iconic American car giant but also set off a heated debate about government intervention in private business.

DEARBORN, MI—Ford is spending about $773 million to expand six Michigan assembly plants while adding 2,350 factory jobs in the state, part of a broader investment plan announced last year. Ford aims to invest $6.2 billion in U.S. facilities and add 12,000 factory jobs across the country by 2015.

DETROIT—GM will build the next-generation Camaro at its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant instead of its Oshawa, Ontario, plant.

BAN PHO, Thailand—No one was hurt after a fire erupted at an engine oil storage tank at Toyota’s assembly plant here, causing $1.6 million in damage.

TIPTON, IN—Chrysler will invest $162 million to reconstruct the Getrag transmission assembly plant here.

BEIJING—China-based Build Your Dreams will build a new assembly plant in California in 2013 to produce electric buses.

SAGINAW, MI—Nexteer Automotive, a tier one automotive supplier, is investing $70 million in its assembly plant here and will add 325 new jobs.

DETROIT—Fiat is planning to acquire 100 percent of the Chrysler Group by purchasing the 41.5 percent of shares in the company held by the UAW. Fiat currently owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler.

WASHINGTON—The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has introduced a proposal to mandate that all light passenger vehicles be equipped with event data recorders beginning Sept. 1, 2014.