FARMINGTON HILLS, MI—Alcoa Inc. says it has solved one of the biggest wrinkles automakers wrestle with when stamping aluminum body panels: formability. The company has developed a new manufacturing process that produces aluminum sheet that is 40 percent more formable than current aluminum alloys.
WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP, MI—Automotive supplier Kirchhoff Van-Rob Inc. will add at least 125 jobs after it opens its new $25 million assembly plant here next month.
VANCE, AL—The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Mercedes-Benz U.S. International must rescind a rule in its employee handbook prohibiting workers from talking about a union in work areas while not on work time.
Today’s car buyers typically order a number of custom options for their vehicles at the time of purchase. In turn, the automaker must identify and track each vehicle throughout the production process to ensure that all options are installed. Volvo Car Corp. uses RFID tags to meet this challenge.
SAN ANTONIO—The ranks of military veterans keep growing at Toyota’s assembly plant here. Since 2010, the plant has hired more than 40 veterans to work on its maintenance staff alone. Veterans account for 20 percent of the plant’s skilled maintenance force, company officials said.