WASHINGTON, DC—Equipment leasing and financing activity held steady in October, reflecting continued optimism among manufacturing executives.

SMYRNA, TN—Nissan Motor Co. will add a third shift at its assembly plant here, adding more than 800 jobs.

YANTAI, China—Contract manufacturer Foxconn has admitted that an in-house investigation discovered children as young as 14 years old working at its assembly plant here.

MAULDIN, SC—Siemens Industry Inc. will invest $2 million to open a new assembly plant here to produce gear motors. The facility will create 30 new jobs.

SAMLESBURY, UK—BAE Systems has switched on a new assembly line here that will be integral to the assembly of F-35 fighter jets. The line will boost production from one jet per week to one per day by 2016.

MITCHELL, SD—Firefighters were called to the Trail King assembly plant here after a small fire broke out in one of the factory’s dust-collecting units.

VALENCIA, CA—Aerospace Dynamics International Inc. is spending $80 million to build an assembly plant here to make parts for Airbus A350. The company will add 125 people to its payroll.

DETROIT—Johnson Controls has acquired bankrupt battery manufacturer A123 Systems for $125 million.

BEIJING, China—A Foxconn executive blamed the shortage of the iPhone 5 on the device’s complicated design, calling the phone “the most difficult device that we have ever assembled.”

DETROIT—GM will spend $35 million to produce the Cadillac ELR, an extended-range electric vehicle, at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant.