TOKYO, JAPAN-Leading automakers here are suspending production at their domestic plants on Monday as they assess the condition of their factories and parts suppliers after Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami. They did not say when they would resume production. MORE

DETROIT-Whirlpool is investing $1 billion in its U.S. footprint, chairman and CEO Jeff Fettig told the Detroit Economic Club here yesterday. Whirlpool is “very confident in the future of U.S. manufacturing” and hopes to increase its revenue 33 percent over the next three years to $24 billion, he said. MORE

HAMTRAMCK, MI-GM plans to add a shift to its Hamtramck assembly plant to prepare for increased production of the Chevy Volt. MORE

CHATTANOOGA, TN-From 85,000 applicants, Volkswagen has hired more than 1,500 workers and begun filling second-shift production jobs at its assembly plant here. MORE

MADISON, MS-French auto supplier Faurecia is buying Johnson Controls factory here, which makes seating for Nissan’s assembly plant in nearby Canton. MORE

TARBORO, NC-Keihin Carolina System Technology is investing more than $13 million in its assembly plant here, creating 50 new jobs. MORE

TOKYO-Toyota has set a goal of selling 10 million vehicles worldwide in 2015, with half those sales in emerging markets. MORE

HONG KONG-Labor trends that have fewer Chinese workers opting for menial, low-paying factory jobs on the east coast are expected to spread to the nation’s less-developed central and western regions, according to a report Wednesday in the state-run China Daily. MORE

MINNEAPOLIS-Medtronic Inc. has resolved issues at assembly plants in Mounds View, MN, and Juncos, Puerto Rico, that were raised in warning letters from the FDA. MORE

MARIETTA, GA-Lockheed Martin union workers approved a new three-year contract Sunday, avoiding the threat of a strike at the company’s aircraft assembly plant here. MORE