– Ford Motor Co. says it will build the 2005 Escape gasoline-electric sport-utility vehicle in Kansas City, Mo., beginning next summer. The vehicle will go on sale in late summer and will be the first U.S.-branded hybrid to market. .
– China’s No. 3 automaker, Dongfeng Motor Corp., is in joint-venture talks with Renault Trucks. Dongfeng Motor also has a joint venture with Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese automaker controlled by Renault of France.
– A Beijing court has thrown out a suit filed by Toyota against China’s sole private carmaker, which charged the firm with infringing the Japanese giant’s copyright. Toyota sued Geely Group last December, saying it used a logo similar to the “T” on its Meiri sedans and that could mislead customers. Geely denied that.
