DETROIT/TOKYO—General Motors and Honda recently announced plans to codevelop a series of affordable electric vehicles based on a new global architecture using next-generation Ultium battery technology.

SUDBURY, MA—Methods Machine Tools, a supplier of automation and CNC machine tools, says it will open a production and distribution center in Fort Worth, TX, in February 2023.

TOKYO—SoftBank Robotics Europe says it will acquire a minority stake in the United Robotics Group, a German distributor of service robots.

SEOUL—Stellantis and LG Energy Solution announced plans to invest more than $4.1 billion to build a battery plant in Canada.

SIDNEY, OH—Fresh off of winning Intel’s $20 billion project to make semiconductors in Licking County, the state is on the verge of landing another big project: a $900 million investment by a Chinese manufacturer of materials used in batteries that power electric vehicles and other products.

RALEIGH, NC—VinFast, a Vietnamese manufacturer of electric vehicles, has chosen North Carolina for its first North American automotive and battery assembly plant, which will create 7,500 jobs. The manufacturing plant will be built at the Triangle Innovation Point megasite in Chatham County.

BENGALURU, India—Wipro GE Healthcare has announced that its upcoming greenfield assembly plant here will be managed entirely by women.

WASHINGTON—The manufacturing sector boosted U.S. employment by 38,000 jobs in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last
Friday.

MIAMI—To highlight unique careers and companies in the welding and metal fabrication industries, the American Welding Society has launched Metal America, a new video series streaming exclusively on YouTube.

TOKYO—Mitsubishi Electric Corp. says it has acquired 42,000 square meters of land in Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, where
it will build a new plant to manufacture factory automation control system products starting in April 2025.