Shanghai Tongyu Automotive Technology Co (Tongyu Automobile) has announced the completion of Series B financing of over 500 million yuan (over $70 million), according to an official statement on December 4. Shenzhen Venture Capital, GGV Capital, BAIC Industrial Investment, Star Navigation Capital, Guojiang Fund, Southern Industrial Investment, CCB Capital, Xuanyuan Capital, Huoyan Capital, Mingchuan Capital, Lepu Capital, Guoshun Fund and many other well-known industries Capital and top finan...

Rane Madras will $31 million in Aguascalientes, Mexico to set up operations in the country, according to a report by Mexico Now on December 4. The investment is likely to generate over 300 jobs. The Indian company will set up its first plant in Mexico. Rane Madras will make an initial investment of $5 million, with a final projection set to rise to $31 million. Rane Madras specializes in the manufacture and distribution of steering and suspension systems, as well as other auto parts. The new ...

The UK Battery Industrialization Centre (UKBIC) has received an additional £38 million ($47.9 million) in funding to enhance its scale-up capabilities, it said in a press release on November 27. The funding will primarily be used to upgrade UKBIC's flexible scale-up line. The new capability is expected to be operational by 2025 and will provide battery developers with a cost-effective route to market, enabling them to move from R&D to large-scale production without using overseas facilit...

Nifco South India Manufacturing, a group company of Nifco Korea, will set up a new automotive plastic components manufacturing plant in Karnataka, Autocar reported on December 1. According to the report, Nifco entered into an memorandum of understanding with the government of Karnataka to invest 2.88 billion rupees ($34.5 million). The project is expected to create employment opportunities for around 400 people, with 65% of them being women. The company will complete the project over a period...

Nexteer Automotive has announced it will further capitalize on Asia-Pacific growth by increasing manufacturing and testing capacity through a strategic footprint expansion into Changshu within China’s Jiangsu Province nearby the company’s existing facilities in Suzhou, according to a press release on November 30. To meet growing demand from both global and domestic original equipment manufacturer customers in APAC, Nexteer’s approximately 21.4-acre site in Changshu will produce electric...

In an effort to expand its presence beyond its home market in China, GAC Aion, the electric vehicle subsidiary of Chinese automaker GAC Group, plans to build an EV manufacturing plant in Thailand, according to a news report published by CnEVPost on Nov. 30. Citing a company announcement, the report mentioned that GAC Aion plans to invest a total of $65.9 million in setting up its EV factory in Thailand’s Rayong province and that the plant will be developed to have a production capacity...

Hota Industrial Mfg. Co. (Hota), a Taiwanese company that produces auto parts for major carmakers such as Tesla, Ford and General Motors, has announced a $99 million investment in a plant in New Mexico, US, its first outside of Asia, according to a Reuters report on Nov. 28. The company's CEO Holly Sheng stated that the decision to invest in the US was a "very natural" choice due to the country's proximity to North America, which accounts for 70% of the company's sales. The company faced chal...

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has invested in its logistics partner BTV, Evertiq reported Nov. 24. Financial details of the new investment were not disclosed. The aim of the investment by Mercedes-Benz is to secure its semiconductor supply chain. Westphalia, Germany-based BTV has customers across the automotive and consumer goods industries. It specializes in logistics, programming, quality management, assembly, testing, taping and the long-term storage of electronic components. It has been w...

Secondmind has expanded its partnership with Mazda for automotive design and development, it said in a press release dated Nov. 27. The partnership centers around research and commercial deployment of solutions that support systems engineering and validation processes, with the aim of increasing virtualization in design and development. Mazda has also joined a $16 million funding round in Secondmind alongside existing investors. The extended partnership builds on over three years of collabora...

Changan Automobile, a Chinese auto giant, has announced plans to establish a production base in Thailand, with an annual capacity of 100,000 units in the first phase. The facility, which began construction in early November, is expected to be up and running by the first quarter of 2025. Changan aims to use Thailand as a base to enter more Southeast Asian countries and other right-hand drive car markets, CnEVPost reported Nov. 27. The first phase of the production base will introduce mode...

PhysicsX, a startup bringing the power of generative AI to enable breakthrough engineering in advanced automotive and other industries, has raised $32 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst. Standard Investments, NGP, Radius Capital, and KKR Co-founder and Co-executive Chairman Henry Kravis also participated in the round, based on a press release on Nov. 27. PhysicsX is building AIs that dramatically accelerate accurate physics simulation, enable generative engineering ...

In an official announcement on Nov. 24, Japanese carmaker Nissan has confirmed that all the three cars it produces at its Sunderland, UK-based factory will be 100% electric. The facility, which Nissan calls the EV36Zero hub and refers to as its blueprint for future manufacturing, will consist of three electric vehicles, three gigafactories and up to £3 billion of investment. The commitment will support Nissan’s 7,000 UK employees and the 30,000 supply chain jobs in the UK, the company said...

Gotion InoBat Batteries (GIB), a joint venture between Gotion High-Tech and InoBat, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of the Slovak Republic to construct a battery gigafactory in Šurany, Slovakia, according to a company press release dated Nov. 23. The factory, expected to create thousands of jobs, will have a capacity of 20 GWh in the initial development stage, with potential expansion to 40 GWh. The government will provide subsidies, arrange the land, prepar...

South Korean tiremaker Hankook Tire plans to add a truck bus radial (TBR) production line to its European plant. This expansion proposal for a new TBR production line at the Rácalmás plant in Fejér County, Hungary, has been approved by its board of directors, the company said in a press release on Nov. 24.  The Rácalmás plant was completed in 2007 and has served as an outpost for the company's European expansion. The European plant, which has completed its third phase of c...

Silbond, a subsidiary of the Germany-based specialty chemicals company Evonik, will expand its production facility in Weston, Mich., according to a press release on Nov. 20. The company will add three jobs and manufacture new products, including high-purity abrasives, and market them to manufacturers of liquid abrasives used in the production of microchips. The project is expected to generate a total capital spending of $7.9 million in 2023 and 2024. Silbond produces chemicals used in the sem...

Founded in 2013, What3Words is a geocoding application that divides the world into a grid containing 57 trillion 3-meter by 3-meter squares and assigns each square a unique three-word address instead of alphanumeric coordinates. Each of the three words in a What3Words address corresponds to a specific square on the map, and the order of the words is important for accuracy. The words are randomly assigned to each square, but the system uses an algorithm to ensure that similar-sounding words ar...

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor has announced that it will invest nearly $400 million to set up a third manufacturing facility in India, creating 2,000 new jobs and increasing its overall capacity to 410,000 units per annum, news agency Reuters reported Nov. 21.   This is the company's first capacity expansion in over a decade and comes as Toyota looks to meet surging demand for its vehicles in the Indian market. The new plant will be located in the southern state of Karnataka, Indi...

NHK Spring Co. has announced its decision to construct a new plant in Mexico to increase its production capacity of motor cores, it said in a press release dated Nov. 17. The company plans to invest approximately ¥7.5 billion (about $50.8 million) in the new plant, which will be built on a site adjacent to its current plant in Mexico. The dedicated Mexico plant, along with the motor-core production plant in Japan, will improve productivity and efficiency, allowing the company to increase its...

Blackshark.ai, an AI geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) company, has successfully raised $35 million in its Series A extension round, with existing investors and new partners joining the funding, according to a press release on Nov. 16. The company, known for creating the first 3D digital twin of the Earth for Microsoft's Flight Simulator, aims to democratize high-frequency 3D mapping applications across various sectors. The funding will be used to support technology developments, and bolster...

In a press release announcement on Nov. 20, Onsemi said that the company has opened an application test lab in Piestany, Slovakia, focused on the advancement of system solutions for battery, plug-in hybrid, electric vehicles (xEVs) and energy infrastructure (EI) power conversion systems. The systems applications lab provides specialized equipment to develop and test next-generation silicon (Si) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductor solutions in collaboration with automotive original equipment ...

Valeo, a global automotive technology company, has announced an investment of over $163 million in its Technical Development Center (MTeC) in Querétaro, Mexico, over the next five years. This investment is expected to create 510 jobs in the automotive sector and underscores the growing confidence of companies in the state, Mexico Now reported Nov. 17. According to Marco Antonio Del Prete Tercero, head of the Ministry of Sustainable Development (SEDESU), this project represents a substantial ...

Vitesco Technologies, a leading global provider of modern drive technologies and electrification solutions, has opened a new manufacturing space in Icheon, South Korea, with a capacity to produce over 200,000 of its EMR4 electric axle drives per year, it said in a press release on Nov. 16. The new line, which represents an investment of over €80 million, will enable the production of the highly efficient and compact EMR4 axle drive, which combines power electronics, an electric motor and a ...

Jabil Inc. announced the opening of its third production facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, marking a significant milestone in the company's growth and commitment to the region. The new plant spans over 250,000 square feet and will support Jabil's customers across various industries, including energy, automotive, healthcare, digital print and retail, it announced Nov. 16. Victor Brizuela, Jabil's vice president of operations for Latin America, expressed the company's excitement about the opening,...

Porsche is upgrading its main plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany, to prepare for the future of sports-car production. The company is investing €250 million in the construction work, which includes extending the plant's assembly line, integrating new production phases and upgrading quality management. The upgraded plant will enable increased efficiency, quality standards and mixed production of combustion-engine and electric sports cars, the company said Nov. 16. The reconstruction mea...

Eliiy Power and Suzuki Motor have entered into an additional investment and business alliance agreement, according to a company press release on Nov. 14. Suzuki will make an additional investment of ¥10 billion (about $65.9 million) in Eliiy Power and become the largest shareholder with a stake of 21.59%. Additionally, Suzuki will subscribe for ¥15 billion of convertible bond-type bonds with stock acquisition rights issued by Eliiy Power. The entire transaction is expected to be completed b...

Hyundai Motor Co. has announced a new electric vehicle plant at its complex in Ulsan, South Korea, that will act as a hub for its future mobility production practices. It will also operate as a human-centered facility offering a manufacturing platform designed to deliver an optimal working environment for employees. The EV-dedicated facility will be Hyundai Motor’s first new plant in South Korea in 29 years, following the opening of its Asan, South Korea, plant in 1996, according to a press re...

Honda, along with Schaeffler Americas and the Ohio State University, is set to establish a battery-cell research center in Ohio, US, according to a press release dated Nov. 13. The center is expected to open in April 2025 and has received $22 million in commitments to date. The lab will aid in the development of battery-cell materials and manufacturing technologies, and provide an experiential learning setting for advanced battery-technology workforce development. The project will include the...

Posco International Corp. (Posco), the energy and trading unit of South Korea’s steel giant Posco Holdings Inc., plans to invest 680 billion South Korean won (about $519.1 million) on scaling up its electric vehicle component business, with an aim of riding on the surging growth of electric mobility, according to a news report published by The Korea Economic Daily on Nov. 9. The plan to expand into the EV parts business is part of Posco’s global strategy to foray into sustainability ...

Italian tiremaker Pirelli has opened its first research and development (R&D) center in Silao, Mexico, with an investment of $15 million over two years. The center spans over 6,000 square meters and is part of the company's larger 200,000-square-meter plant. The new technology hub adopts Industry 4.0 principles and aims to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the region, known as the Valley of Mentefacturing in Guanajuato, Mexico Now reported Nov. 9. Claudio Zanardo, presid...

US automaker Ford has announced an investment of 5.2 billion South African rands (approximately $281 million) to produce a hybrid vehicle in South Africa, according to a Reuters report dated Nov. 9. The company is urging the government to expedite the development of an electric vehicle policy, as the UK and Europe have announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol cars by 2035, which poses an existential threat to South Africa's auto industry. Ford plans to produce its Ranger Plug-in Hybrid E...

According to a Reuters report dated Nov. 7, Japanese carmaker Nissan will invest 2.8 billion reais ($575.22 million) between 2023 and 2025 in its Resende plant in Brazil to produce two new sports utility vehicle (SUV) models, quoting the company’s global CEO, Makoto Uchida. Uchida added that the new generation of the Nissan Kicks will be one of the vehicles manufactured in Resende, which he said will become a hub for exports to other Latin American countries. The announcement came a day aft...

May Mobility has closed a $105 million Series D funding round led by NTT Group, according to its press release dated Nov. 7. Other new and existing investors, including Toyota Ventures, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company, State Farm Ventures, BMW i Ventures, Cyrus Capital, Millennium and Trucks Venture Capital, also participated in the round. This brings the company's total funding to approximately $300 million to date. May Mobility’s Series B and C were led by Toyota Motor Corp. and SPARX Gro...

Fukui Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a manufacturing subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd., will establish a new research and development base called Ceramic Capacitor R&D Center near Echizen-Takefu Station in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Construction will commence in November 2023 with the inauguration planned for April 2026, according to a press release dated Nov. 6. The establishment of the Ceramic Capacitor R&D Center aims to improve the technological capabilities in the develop...

DuPont has officially opened a new manufacturing site in Newark, Delaware, US called the Tralee Park Annex to meet growing demand from the semiconductor and industrial sectors, the company press release read on Nov. 6. The facility, which was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, significantly expands DuPont's Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer parts capacity and features a high-end ISO Class 6 Cleanroom, upgraded manufacturing equipment and optimized facility layout. Brian Ammons, global b...

Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that the company broke ground on its new 300-mm semiconductor wafer fabrication plant in Lehi, Utah, US, according to a press release on Nov. 2. Joined by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, state and local elected officials as well as community leaders, TI celebrated the first steps toward the construction of the new fabrication plant, LFAB2, which will connect to the company's existing 300-mm wafer fabrication plant in Lehi. Once comple...

Chinese automaker Changan has signed a land purchase agreement with Thailand's industrial estate developer WHA Group to build its new electric vehicle factory in the Southeast Asian country, according to a news report published by Xinhua News Agency on Oct. 26. The EV assembly plant will be spread across an area of 40 hectares and will be located in Thailand's eastern Rayong province, which is part of the country's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). Changan’s EV plant is expected to b...