PLANO, TX—Toyota plans to build a new billion-dollar battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. as the Japanese automaker ramps up development and production of the key components needed for hybrid and electric vehicles.

PONTARDAWE, Wales—The global materials engineering group Wall Colmonoy has completed a major upgrade to its casting foundry here to improve efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint.

VANCE, AL—Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) plans to launch an accelerated campaign to hire several hundred permanent production workers before the end of 2021.

BELVIDERE, IL—Production at the Stellantis assembly plant here will be down through the rest of October due to the global semiconductor shortage.

YOKOHAMA, Japan—Nissan unveiled a new assembly line at its Tochigi plant as part of the automaker’s Intelligent Factory initiative.

MOLINE, IL—United Auto Workers union members appear to be heading closer to a strike Oct. 12 after rejecting a contract offer from Deere & Co. over the weekend that would have given at least 5 percent raises to staff that build John Deere tractors and other equipment.

SPRINGFIELD, MA—Weapons maker Smith & Wesson announced last week that it will relocate its headquarters to Tennessee in 2023, citing the increasingly hostile political climate here.

CAMBRIDGE, MA—Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed the RoboGrammar system, which automatically generates an optimal structure and controller for an arthropod-inspired robot to traverse a given terrain.

WOOD DALE, IL—Linear motion control manufacturer Thomson Industries Inc., recently sponsored the Dirt-Torpedo, a device built by DHBW Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University students, that competed in Elon Musk's "Not-a-Boring Competition" for tunnel building last month.

CEDAR KNOLLS, NJ—New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program Inc. has opened a new training facility in Bellmawr, NJ, to provide local manufacturers with easier access to training and consulting services.