Magna Seating, an operating unit of Canadian autoparts maker Magna International, continues its growth in South America with the acquisition of automotive seat supplier Pabsa SA. The new entity will operate as Magna Seating Argentina.

Pabsa, previously part of the L'Equipe Monteur Group, is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is a vertically integrated supplier of complete seats, foam products, trim covers and seat structures with sales in 2010 of approximately US$110 million.

Airbus has won a large order from the Indian budget airline IndiGo for 180 of its A320 jets.

The order, worth around $15.6 billion (£10 billion) at advertised prices, includes 150 of Airbus’s new eco-conscious A320neo jets.

Blagnac, France-basedAirbus has described the order as the biggest, in terms of number of jets, in aviation history.

Gurgaon-based IndiGo is the first announced customer for the A320neo—a revamped, eco-conscious version of Airbus’s popular single-aisle jet—that Airbus hopes to bring to market in 2016.

Siemens Energy has received an order for an instrumentation & controls (I&C) system and two steam turbine-generators for the Ivanpah solar thermal power plant in the Mojave desert in California, extending an initial order made two years ago.

BrightSource Energy Inc., a developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants headquartered in Oakland, California, has now ordered Siemens’ SPPA-T3000 for all three units of the Ivanpah project with a combined installed capacity of approximately 400 megawatts (MW).

The operator of Scotland’s Grangemouth oil refinery has struck a deal with PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer, to safeguard the future of the facility.

The joint venture between Grangemouth operator Ineos and PetroChina will see the two companies working together and sharing skills, though the specific details have yet to be drawn up.

Around 1,400 workers are employed at Grangemouth, with an estimated 7,000 jobs at other firms, particularly in central Scotland, being dependent on the plant.

Caterpillar Inc. announced today that it plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Thailand to build underground mining machinery.

The company will break ground on the new factory in early 2011, with production scheduled to begin in late 2012. The facility will produce a full range of underground mining articulated trucks and loaders, which are used by Caterpillar customers around the world in hard-rock underground mining applications.

Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata is said to be close to acquiring Drummond, Colombia’s second biggest coal miner, according to a report in UK newspaper the Sunday Times.

It is thought that family-owned Drummond could be sold for around $8 billion (£5 billion). The company was put up for sale last year.

A number of other mining giants, including Rio Tinto, Vale, Vedanta Resources and Essar Energy, are thought to also have been interested in Drummond.

Energy Fuels Inc. has been granted approval by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for a radioactive materials license for the 500 ton per day Piñon Ridge Mill facility to be constructed twelve miles west of Naturita, Colorado in western Montrose County.

Following years of economic uncertainty and industry restructuring, global auto executives expect US auto brands to increase market share over the next five years, spurred by product innovation, restructuring activities and continued improvement in product quality.  

The outlook marks a dramatic turnaround in their expectations from a year ago, according to the 12th annual global automotive survey by KPMG LLP, the US audit, tax and advisory firm.

Royal Dutch Shell is to begin drilling an exploration well off the New Zealand coast that could extend the life of the Maui gas field.

Drilling ship the Noble Discoverer will drill the Ruru well for Shell Todd Oil Services Ltd. Shell Todd is 50 per cent owned by Todd Energy Ltd. and 50 per cent owned by The Hague-based Shell.

The Ruru well lies approximately 40 kilometres off the Taranki coast on New Zealand’s North Island and is adjacent to the Maui gas field. Maui, which covers an area of 157 square kilometres, began production 30 years ago.

General Motors and Powermat, a pioneer in wireless charging technology, announced a commercial agreement today that will eliminate the need for charging cords for personal electronic devices in many future Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac products beginning mid-2012.

GM Ventures, the company's venture capital subsidiary, will invest $5 million in Powermat to accelerate the technology's development and support efforts to grow Powermat's business globally.