PUEBLA, MEXICO-Less than a year after beginning construction on a new factory in Chattanooga, TN, Volkswagen has announced that it is investing $1 billion to expand and improve its only existing North American facility, which is located in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Volkswagen has set a goal of tripling VW and Audi sales in the U.S. by calendar year 2018. MORE

DEARBORN, MI-In its annual “Car Wars” survey, Merrill Lynch says Ford Motor Co. will continue to gain market share at the expense of General Motors and Chrysler. MORE

BEIJING-Chinese economic growth is reportedly “stronger than expected” thanks to in large part to the government’s ongoing buying spree. MORE

CAMBRIDGE, MA-Solar equipment manufacturing in the United States is likely to grow 50 percent annually from now until 2012, thanks to government incentives and growing market demand, says analyst Shyam Mehta of GTM Research. MORE

TUSCALOOSA, AL-Fairly dry weather has allowed crews building a 225,000-square-foot expansion of the body shop at the Mercedes-Benz assembly plant to get about two to three weeks ahead of schedule. Approximately 35 percent of the addition’s steel framing has been installed and some 80 percent of the addition's concrete foundation is done. MORE

DALLAS-Texas Instruments saved $5.1 million last year as a result of a number of initiatives designed to save energy, water and other resources. MORE

WASHINGTON-Industrial production in the United States fell in June at the slowest pace in eight months, another sign that the worst of the recession is over. MORE

HOPKINTON, MA-EMC Corp., a manufacturer of data storage equipment, announced that its manufacturing facility in Franklin, MA, has achieved OHSAS 18001 certification, an international standard for safety and health management systems. EMC’s Franklin facility is one of few assembly plants that is certified to ISO standards for quality (9001), environment (14001), and occupational health and safety (18001). MORE

COLUMBUS, IN-Nearly 400 workers laid off from the Cummins Inc. engine factory here returned to work yesterday. Cummins had laid off 720 employees, but more than half have been called back to resume production at the plant, which produces engines for the diesel Dodge Ram, when Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy last week. MORE

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. will reportedly spend $80 million to build a plant in South Africa with an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles. MORE