NEW YORK—Ford, Caterpillar and Johnson Controls were among the manufacturers named by U.S. News as America’s Most Connected Companies.

LAFAYETTE, IN—Subaru’s assembly plant here has earned ISO 50001 certification for energy efficiency.

JACKSON, MS—The UAW is stepping up efforts to organize workers at Nissan’s automotive assembly plant here.

MONTGOMERY, AL—Nearly 20,000 people have applied for the 877 new jobs that Hyundai is filling for a third shift at its assembly plant here, and applications are still coming.

PARIS, TN—Dana Holding Corp. will spend $3.8 million to expand its oil cooler assembly plant here. The investment is expected to create 49 full-time jobs.

GAIMERSHEIM, Germany—Audi has opened a research center here to develop high-voltage lithium-ion batteries.

DETROIT—The global market for automobile sensors is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7 percent, reaching $22.1 billion by 2017.

DETROIT—North American sales of microelectric vehicles could reach 118,000 units by 2017, according a new report. Frost & Sullivan’s report predicts that sales could expand at a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent between 2010 and 2017.