LOUISVILLE, KY—More than 5,000 people have applied this month for what turned out to be just 50 factory jobs, some of them temporary, at Ford Motor Co.’s assembly plant here.

CARTHAGE, MO—Leggett & Platt is spending $5 million to expand its auto parts assembly plant here. The company is expected to add 12 jobs.

TUSCALOOSA, AL—Employees at the Faurecia Interior Systems assembly plant here rejected a unionization proposal from the UAW by a vote of 86-62 on Thursday. The facility makes subassemblies for Volkswagen, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.

ARLINGTON, TX—GM is investing more than $500 million to improve its assembly plant here.

DES MOINES, IA—Firestone has reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers Union covering workers at the tire manufacturer’s factories in Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois and Tennessee.

DETROIT—A nonprofit community organization is launching an online crowd funding campaign to raise $125,000 to preserve parts of Ford Motor Co.’s historic Highland Park complex, where the moving assembly line was invented.

NEW YORK—During July 2013, more than 8,500 jobs were advertised online in the U.S. automotive industry. That’s a four-year high and a 9 percent compared with a year ago.

GAYDON, UK—New technology is helping Aston Martin cut costs, reduce production time, and ensure quality.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation Specialists recently delivered a compliant-pin assembly system to a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer of vehicle safety products.