Toyota has agreed to shift a $1.5 billion order with LG Energy Solution to bolster operations at a Michigan battery plant after General Motors backed out of the project.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. notched big U.S. sales gains and General Motors Co. grew retail deliveries to start the year as demand for lower-priced models help automakers defy expectations for a broad slowdown.

Lordstown Motors Corp. slid after the Wall Street Journal reported that the troubled electric-vehicle startup is being probed by the U.S. Justice Department.