General Motors said on Monday that it would add 750 jobs so that it can increase production of pickup trucks, welcome news in this economically depressed city. G.M. will call back workers from its pool of about 3,000 employees nationwide who have been laid off from other plants, adding a third daily shift at the Flint plant, which builds heavy-duty versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. The news follows hiring announcements at several other G.M. plants and word this month from the Ford Motor Company about plans to add 7,000 jobs at its plants by the end of 2012. “Less than two years ago, we didn’t even know if we were going to have a company,” Dana Rouse, the chairman of United Automobile Workers Local 598, which represents the plant’s hourly employees. G.M. [Read the full article]

The Leaf electric car is rolling down the bustling assembly line at Nissan's Oppama plant, taking the place of a gasoline engine compact whose production was moved abroad last year.The Oppama plant in the Tokyo suburb of Yokosuka is a showcase for Nissan Motor Co.'s ambitions to be a leader in green auto technology. And the plant, shown to reporters Tuesday, is good publicity for the company amid recent moves by Japanese automakers including Nissan to send production and jobs overseas. [Read the full article]

Electric vehicle market pioneer ZAP (OTCBB:ZAAP.ob - News) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of 51 percent of the capital stock of Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. of Sanmen, Zhejiang, China. Cathaya Capital LP has funded the aggregate amount of US$36 million.The final payment of US$19 million related to the acquisition was made on January 21, 2011 with the funding from Cathaya Capital. Total cash payment for the acquisition of 51 percent of Jonway Automobile was US$30,030,000.With ZAP(TM)s electric vehicle (EV) technology expertise and international experience, the combined company intends to build the necessary production platform to address the Chinese EV market. [Read the full article]