BRIEFS - UK companies to build Evoque

• UK companies to build Evoque

LONDON (Reuters):

Jaguar Land Rover has awarded more than £2 billion (US$3.3 billion) worth of supply contracts for its new Evoque model to British companies.

The 40-plus companies will supply components for the new compact Range Rover coupe and five-door vehicles after winning a global tendering exercise, the company said.

"(It) shows that the UK (United Kingdom) automotive supply chain is capable of winning major contracts and creating vital jobs in the UK," the UK's business secretary Vince Cable said after a tour of JLR's Halewood facility in Merseyside.

The Evoque, due to arrive on dealership forecourts this year, is the smallest and most fuel-efficient Range Rover, the company's website said, and is the first of a number of new products planned during the next five years.

• Oregon eyes taxing 'electric'

SALEM, Ore (AP):

State lawmakers are considering charging electric-vehicle owners for every mile they drive to replace the gas taxes they won't be paying.

The issue is a conflict between the desire to encourage electric vehicle purchases and the need to maintain the roads they drive on. A House committee will take up the legislation and is expected to vote on it.

"It's a fairness issue," said Senator Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, a proponent of the bill. "They're not paying any gas tax. Everyone else is paying, why should they get a free ride?"

Opponents say it's too early to tax electric vehicle use because the state should be doing everything it can to make non-polluting vehicles attractive to buyers.

• Kawasaki to lay off 115

LINCOLN, Neb (AP):

Kawasaki says it will be laying off 115 workers from its manufacturing plant in Lincoln for at least a month because of a parts error.

Plant manager Mike Boyle says in an email to the Lincoln Journal-Star that one of the company's suppliers made a number of structural rail car parts incorrectly and that parts en route from Japan are also incorrect.

Boyle says the supplier can't replenish the right parts in time because of work stoppages in Japan related to earthquake damage.

The company plans to start calling back employees on May 2, and Boyle expects all the workers back and full production to resume by May 31.

• Honda, Mazda restart production

DETROIT (AP):

Honda Motor Co and Mazda Motor Corp said Thursday they will resume limited production at several Japanese factories in April, but full production depends on the availability of parts.

The moves are another sign that the Japanese auto industry is starting to come back from the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but industry analysts say it may take until summer before factories are back at full output.

Japan is the second-largest supplier of cars in the world, as well as a major parts producer. The impact of the earthquake already is causing production cuts in the US and other countries. Few plants in Japan were seriously damaged by the quake, but water and electricity supplies have been hampered.