MUNICH, Germany—BMW is planning to invest more than $536 million on new car technologies over the next 10 years via its i Ventures division. The automaker will use the money to back startups working on areas such as autonomous driving and digitalization.

CASA GRANDE, AZ—Lucid Motors, a start-up manufacturer of high-end electric vehicles, will spend $700 million to build a new assembly plant here. The factory is expected to create 2,000 jobs in the next six years.

DAYTON, OH—The nonprofit National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA)—in cooperation with the state of Ohio, the city of Dayton and the National Park Service, among others—is hoping to raise approximately $4 million by the end of this year to save the Wright brothers’ original assembly plant here.

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, MI—Oerlikon will build a new, state-of-the-art factory here to make advanced materials for additive manufacturing and high-end surface coatings.

WASHINGTON—Orders for U.S. business equipment climbed in October for the fourth month in the last five, indicating corporate investment may be starting to thaw.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy is providing nearly $25 million to fund 13 projects aimed at advancing technologies for energy-efficient electric motors for industrial machinery.

GUANAJUATO, Mexico—Toyota has begun construction on a $1 billion assembly plant here, its fifteenth manufacturing facility in North America. The factory, which will produce the Corolla, is expected to employ approximately 2,000 workers.

WASHINGTON—Output at U.S. manufacturers rose for a second month in October, a sign the industry is gradually recovering from a prolonged period of weakness, according to the Federal Reserve.

KANSAS CITY, KS—General Motors is investing $55 million to build an 830,000-square-foot “logistics optimization center” adjacent to its Fairfax assembly plant here. The operation is expected to employ approximately 500 workers.

LOGAN, UT—Boston Scientific’s medical device factory in Cork, Ireland, and Rexam’s beverage can factory in Querétaro, Mexico, have been named the winners of this year’s Shingo Prize for operational excellence in manufacturing.