DETROIT—General Motors is planning to invest approximately $1.6 billion in its North American manufacturing facilities during 2013, in a bid to unveil about 20 new models during the year.

DETROIT—Actor Danny Glover has joined supporters of unionization for workers at Nissan’s assembly plant in Mississippi demonstrating outside the North American International Auto Show.

SILAO, Mexico—Volkswagen has opened a new engine assembly plant here. The plant will have a maximum annual capacity of 330,000 engines.

CANTON, MS—Nissan will begin producing the Murano at its assembly plant here by 2014. The automaker has set a goal of manufacturing 85 percent of the vehicles it sells in the United States in North America.

BLUE SPRINGS, MS—Masafumi Hamaguchi, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi, loves running, professional wrestling and helping assemblers produce the highest quality vehicles possible.

DETROIT—An automotive journalist got an early Christmas present last December—the opportunity to watch his Buick Verano being assembled.

MARYSVILLE, OH—Honda said that its U.S. factories have churned out their 1 millionth vehicle built for export. Honda predicts that in two years, it will export more cars built in North America than it imports from Japan.

MONTGOMERY, AL—Hyundai temporarily stopped its assembly line here to allow workers to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide battle for college football’s national championship.

SPARTANBURG, SC—BMW has opened a family health center at its assembly plant here.

DETROIT—Wanxiang Group, a large Chinese auto parts maker, has won a high-stakes auction for the assets of A123 Systems, the bankrupt American battery maker.