BUFFALO, NY—The automotive industry in New York is enjoying a resurgence of investment in people, plants and equipment.

SEATTLE—While the hunt for the root cause of the 787 battery problems continues, Boeing remains adamant in its faith in the current lithium-ion technology.

BERLIN—Audi will devote more than $17 billion to capital spending worldwide over the new few years, and it will spend more than $2.6 billion annually on R&D.

LEXINGTON, KY—Kentucky’s automotive industry enjoyed a banner year in 2012, with annual production reaching more than 1 million vehicles for the first time since 2007.

CHARLOTTE, NC—Bosch Rexroth has introduced a software platform, called Open Core Engineering, that allows OEMs to access PLCs and motion controllers from applications based on high-level languages.

PEOSTA, IA—Camoplast Solideal, which manufactures the undercarriage for John Deere agricultural equipment, has opened a $3.4 million expansion of its assembly plant here, creating 23 new jobs.

EASLEY, SC—An auto parts assembly plant here was evacuated Wednesday after an HVAC unit drew in fumes from varnish being used to seal the building’s concrete foundation.

WASHINGTON—New data from the Census Bureau indicate that manufacturing is concentrated in Midwest and South, in rural and “micropolitan” counties.

SINDELFINGEN, Germany—Daimler is equipping its assembly plant here with the Ubisense real-time location system. Daimler is using the RFID system to track the progress of each vehicle as it is assembled. The system is also being used to track and configure DC electric fastening tools at the plant.

SEATTLE—Boeing has asked U.S. aviation authorities for permission to carry out 787 Dreamliner test flights after the planes were grounded worldwide following a fire risk linked to the plane’s lithium batteries.