NEWARK, DE—Bloom Energy has begun overhauling the old Chrysler assembly plant here. When finished, the new facility will mass-produce fuel cells and employ some 1,500.

Early in 2011, Bruce O’Neill made an important decision for Detroit-based Focus: HOPE’s Center for Advance Technolo-gies.

The software manages, plans and simulates production processes.

DEARBORN, MI—Ford says it won’t be affected by a looming shortage of a resin that can carry fuel and other liquids. It has worked with suppliers to develop alternative materials.

CHARLESTON, SC—JTEKT, a Japanese manufacturer of steering systems and driveline components, is investing $102 million to construct a new assembly plant in South Carolina.

Most people associate control rooms with nuclear power plants, oil refineries or NASA rocket launches.

When Chrysler’s Belvidere Assembly Plant (the home of the new Dodge Dart) opened in the middle of a northern Illinois cornfield in 1965, the automaker was in the midst of a decade of growth.

Several Fiat factories in Europe, including Pomigliano, Italy, and Tychy, Poland, were benchmarked by engineers from Chrysler’s Belvidere Assembly Plant before producing the new Dodge Dart.

Chrysler Group LLC is betting big on its new Dodge Dart compact sedan, which hits dealer showrooms in June.

The Dodge Dart compact sedan differs significantly from the two other vehicles that are built at Chrysler’s Belvidere, IL, assembly plant—the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot sport utility vehicle.