Magna International will more than double the revenue generated by its assembly business in Europe after winning major BMW contract. The Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria will produce 100,000 units of the new G30 BMW 5 Series. Magna Steyr, whose customers include MINI and Mercedes-Benz, will wind down production of two MINI vehicles beginning this year.
Revenue from production of vehicles made under contract for auto makers is expected to reach between $5.3-billion (U.S.) and $5.8-billion by 2018.
“We have said we’ve got ongoing business with BMW, we’ve also got new business with Jaguar Land Rover and we [have] other production programs in there,” Magna chief executive officer Don Walker said. “You can see that we do have a significant book [of] business there and it’s pretty healthy business.”
BMW will continue to work with Magna when production of MINI vehicles is shifted out of Magna Steyr, Ian Robertson, a member of the Germany-based auto maker’s board of management, said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday. Mr. Robertson would not say what BMW vehicles would be involved.
BMW will kick off the production of the new G30 5 Series at the end of this year after the company is expected to unveil the new 5 Series at the Paris Motor Show.
[Source: TheGlobeAndMail]
