Business Briefs: Food City presents checks to aid tornado relief efforts

Feb. 04--GM in Spring Hill adds vehicle line

General Motors is investing $27 million in its Spring Hill facility to assemble a right-hand-drive vehicle for export to Australia.

The Detroit-based automaker announced plans Friday morning to assemble the Holden Acadia -- the Australian version of the GMC Acadia -- at the plant about 40 miles south of Nashville, which produces the Cadillac XT5 and GMC Acadia. The 2018 Holden Acadia was revealed in September 2015 and the vehicle will go on sale in the second half of 2018 in Australia.

"The team at Spring Hill Vehicle Assembly is proud to add this important model to our range, particularly as it is exclusively an export product. Customers from around the world can enjoy the craftsmanship our Spring Hill team provides," Ken Knight, Spring Hill Assembly Plant manager, said in a statement.

Food City helps tornado victims

Food City officials have presented three local agencies with checks to aid in Athens/McMinn County, Tenn., tornado relief efforts. The monies were derived from a fund-raising campaign recently hosted at Food City's Etowah location.

Donations were accepted at the store's checkout from Nov. 30 through Dec. 10. All of the funds collected were donated to Coordinated Charities, People Helping People and United Way of McMinn/Meigs County. Each agency received a check in the amount of $2,500 for a total of $7,500.

"Many of our friends and neighbors have been devastated by this tragedy," said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer. "We would like to thank our loyal customers and associates for their support in this critical mission."

S. Korea's Samsung mulls building U.S. appliance factory

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Friday it's considering building a factory to make household appliances in the United States as various industries brace for potential protectionist trade policies under the administration of President Donald Trump.

A spokeswoman for Samsung said the plans were "purely in the evaluation stage" and no decisions have been made. She didn't want to be named, citing office rules.

Samsung also said it continues to assess "new investment needs in the United States. The news drew the attention of Trump, who tweeted "Thank you, Samsung! We would love to have you!"

Most Samsung televisions, refrigerators and other household appliances sold in the United States are made in Mexico.

A spokesman from LG Electronics, another South Korean technology company, said it is also considering building a manufacturing plant in the United States and will decide on the matter within the first half of the year. He also didn't want to be named, saying that the matter was sensitive.

Nissan recalls Altimas for door, window problem

You might not want to open a rear window if you're driving a Nissan Altima.

The company is recalling nearly 363,000 of the midsize cars worldwide from the 2015 through 2017 model years because the doors might open if a rear window is lowered.

Documents posted Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that the latch and lock cable in the doors may not have been routed properly at the factory. In certain situations, the window assembly can interfere with the cable and inadvertently open a door.

The documents say there were "several incidents" that could have been caused by the problem, but Nissan said it knows of no crashes or injuries.

The documents say that Nissan first found out about the problem last summer when it was told of a single incident in which the rear door opened unexpectedly. The company investigated but couldn't duplicate the problem.

It happened again in September or October. Nissan investigated further and found the improperly routed cable. It made changes at the factory but attributed the problem to an isolated assembly error. Nissan got more reports from October through December and decided to do the recall on Jan. 10, the documents show.

Most of the recalled vehicles are in the U.S. and Canada, with some in Mexico and South Korea.

BMW adds more vehicle recall for Takata air bag woes

BMW is recalling more than 230,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators.

The automaker said the vehicles may have had a driver's air bag replaced with a Takata inflator after a crash or in a previous recall. The vehicles originally were built with inflators made by another company.

The recall covers certain 3 series cars from 2000 to 2002, some 5 series cars from 2001 to 2002, and some X5 SUVs from 2001 to 2003.

Takata inflators can explode with too much force and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least 16 deaths and more than 180 injuries have been blamed on the problem worldwide. In the U.S., 19 automakers are recalling 69 million inflators in what has become the largest automotive recall in the nation's history.

BMW wrote in government documents that it discovered the problem in late November after a customer inquired about the maker of the inflator in their 3 Series sedan.

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