Automotive

Japan is making a push to develop flying cars, enlisting companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbus SE to join a public-private panel tasked with making airborne vehicles a Japanese reality in the next decade, people familiar with the matter say.

An exhibition featuring the first engine-powered aircraft to fly in Japan opened at an aviation museum in Tokorozawa on Thursday, marking its return to the city in Saitama Prefecture after 74 years.

Japan's Daihatsu Motor will provide "advanced technological support" for Malaysia's third national car project, government officials announced on Friday.

Nidec, the Japanese maker of precision motors, said Thursday it will form a Chinese joint venture with a unit of Guangzhou Automobile Group to develop and manufacture electric vehicle motors for the promising local market.

SoftBank Group will invest another $2 billion in Indonesia, covering areas such as artificial intelligence and the development of an electric vehicle ecosystem, CEO Masayoshi Son said after he met with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Monday.

Japanese logistics company Nippon Express will begin road tests of automated trucks with a Volvo subsidiary next month, a step toward addressing the industry's severe shortage of drivers.

Toray Industries will build a factory producing separators for electric-vehicle batteries in Hungary, the first of its kind in Europe, looking to serve an expanding supply chain in a region where increasing regulations are expected to accelerate demand for environmentally friendly cars.

Toyota Motor will make a sport utility vehicle instead of the Corolla sedan at a planned Alabama assembly plant due to the surging U.S. demand for SUVs, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will set up a joint venture with Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. and invest a total of ¥64.8 billion ($600 million) in Didi and the new venture, as part of efforts to expand its business in China.

German automaker BMW and Chinese online gaming giant Tencent Holdings are teaming up to launch a computing center in China that will help develop self-driving cars in the world’s biggest auto market, the companies said on Friday.