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TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Taiwanese company that manufactures smartphones for Apple Inc. and other global brands announced plans Oct. 18 to produce electric cars for auto brands under a similar contract model.

LONDON — Ford Motor Co. plans to spend up to $315 million to turn a transmission factory in northwest England into a plant that will make electric power units for cars and trucks sold throughout Europe.

DETROIT — Toyota plans to build a $1.29 billion factory in the U.S. to manufacture batteries for gas-electric hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

Nikola Corp. announced a collaboration with PGT Trucking Inc. that includes a letter of intent from the flatbed carrier to lease 100 Nikola Tre heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles following the satisfactory completion of a Nikola Tre FCEV demonstration program.

NEW YORK — Americans continued to spend at a solid clip in September even while facing sticker shock in grocery aisles, car lots and restaurants as snarled global supply chains slow the flow of goods.

House Democrats began making the case Oct. 14 for stricter regulation of thousands of abandoned wells, platforms and pipelines off the U.S. coasts following one of the biggest offshore spills in California in nearly 30 years.

Cummins Inc. announced it will bring to market a 15-liter natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks.

Ford Motor Co. has vacated its seat on the board of Rivian Automotive Inc. as the electric truck startup prepares to go public with an expected valuation of $80 billion.

Lucid Group Inc. said its debut battery-electric vehicle will be the first production car in the U.S. to include a purpose-built laser sensor, or lidar, enabling a broad range of advanced driver-assistance features.

General Motors Co. said it reached an agreement with partner LG Electronics Inc. to recover from the South Korean company $1.9 billion of the $2 billion in costs for a recall of batteries in its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.