Technology

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.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators announced Oct. 14 they were introducing additional legislation targeting platforms like Amazon’s marketplace amid news reports that say Amazon swipes product information from sellers to bolster its own brands, then favors those Amazon-branded products in search results.

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.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. has confirmed it is planning to build a computer chip factory in Japan.

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

Volvo Autonomous Solutions announced its first major steps toward the autonomous Volvo VNL model in North America, drawing on its partnership with Aurora Innovation Inc., a self-driving vehicle technology company.

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.

Self-driving commercial vehicle developer Aurora Innovation Inc. has released details on how it will bring its technology to market, starting with autonomous trucking services in 2023.