MAHLE CEO Dr. Jörg Stratmann is resigning, effective March 31, 2021.

Nissan Europe has promoted its head of sales and marketing, Guilliame Cartier, to President of its Africa, Middle East, India, Europe, and Oceania.

EV Startup Rivian Automotive is looking to add 1.8K jobs at its plant in Normal, Illinois, over the next nine months. The automaker is planning to start the production of vehicles in June.

Israeli startup StoreDot has developed a new lithium-ion battery that can fully charge from empty in just five minutes.

Hyundai is reportedly in a dispute with union workers at its plant in Ulsan, South Korea, over the working-hours required for the production of its new Ioniq 5 all-electric vehicles. The number of workers set to build the EV is reportedly less than a traditional gas-powered car.

The US Dept. of Justice has filed suit against auto device maker EZ Lynk, saying that they are selling “defeat devices” that enable car and truck owners to disable vehicle emission controls.

Kia recalled 380K vehicles in the US over concerns they could suffer a random electrical fire. The recall covers the 2017-2019 Cadenza and the 2017-2021 Sportage.

This week, a US judge approved a $1.5B settlement from Daimler to resolve the government’s probe of the automaker’s use of emissions defeating software. This includes an $875M civil penalty, $70M in additional penalties, and $546M to fix the affected vehicles.

Renault is planning to sell off its entire $1.4B stake in Daimler. The automaker is reportedly looking to secure funds for its turnaround efforts following a record annual loss.

Spain’s Grupo Antolin and Shanghai’s NEAN are forming a joint venture to develop interior integrated electronics.

Swedish battery maker Northvolt has acquired US battery cell startup Cuberg. The deal will help Northvolt improve the range of vehicles that can use its batteries and drive down the cost for its next-gen battery cells.

GM announced a partnership with SolidEnergy Systems (SES). The collaboration will work on creating smaller, cheaper, and denser lithium EV batteries.

Mercedes-Benz is expanding the capabilities of its Stuttgart-Untertürkheim facility to focus on EV systems.

Germany’s Eberspaecher is opening a new exhaust systems plant in Saltillo, Mexico.

Bosch is opening a new $1.2B automotive chip factory in Dresden, Germany, this June. The plant will employ 700 people.

Webasto is building a new factory in the Pune region of India to produce sunroofs.

Mercedes AMG has broken ground on a high-performance EV powertrain center in Affalterbach, Germany.

GM is pausing production at its Grand River assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan, from March 15 through the end of the month due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage.

LG Chem subsidiary LG Energy Solution is planning to invest $4.5B to expand its EV battery production capacity in the US. The investment will grow an existing plant in Holland, Michigan, and build two new plants in the next four years.

Stratus Plastics is increasing injection-molding production at its Morgantown, Kentucky facility.

Global consultancy AlixPartners has released a new report on 2021’s outlook for ocean cargo supply chains.

Snowstorm-affected oil refineries have been unable to make propylene oxide. The chemical is crucial for the production of polyurethane seating foam. Analysts expect the shortage to affect production in late March.