DETROIT—Big pickups carried U.S. auto sales to their highest level in three years. Demand for full-size pickups jumped 16 percent in August, helping to make it the strongest sales month since August 2009. Overall auto sales increased 20 percent from a year earlier to nearly 1.3 million units.
WASHINGTON—U.S. factory orders rose 2.8 percent in July, the biggest overall advance in a year, reflecting sizable gains in demand for motor vehicles and airplanes.
TIJUANA, Mexico—Hyundai will invest $130 million in a new assembly plant here to produce aluminum auto parts. The plant is expected to create 300 jobs.
GREENVILLE, OH—Whirlpool’s assembly plant here, which produces about 1.5 million Kitchen Aid mixers and blenders annually, is expanding and bringing some jobs from China. The plant has hired 70 people this summer, and plant leaders expect to hire another 50 in about a week.
MAPLETON, ND—To accommodate significant growth, agricultural equipment manufacturer Horsch Anderson has begun building a new assembly plant here. The plant will employ at least 80 people within five years.