Magna International Inc. is a global automotive supplier headquartered in
Aurora, Ontario, Canada. In 2014 it was the largest automobile parts
manufacturer in North America by sales of original equipment parts, and one of
Canada's largest companies. Its operating groups include Magna Steyr,
Magna Powertrain, Magna Exteriors, Magna Seating, Magna Closures, Magna Mirrors,
Magna Electronics and Cosma International.
Magna manufactures auto parts that are primarily supplied to General Motors,
Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC. In addition to the Big 3 U.S. automakers,
Magna's major customers include Tesla Motors, Volkswagen, BMW and Toyota. In
Europe, Magna Steyr holds contracts for the assembly of the Peugeot RCZ and Mini
Countryman. Magna has approximately 124,000
employees in 287 manufacturing operations and 81 product development,
engineering and sales centres in 29 countries. Magna operates under a
corporate constitution which calls for distribution of profits to employees and
shareholders. The terms of this contract are "fair enterprise" according to Frank
Stronach, company founder. Capabilities and products
Magna’s capabilities include the design, engineering, testing and manufacture of
exterior systems, seating systems, closure systems, vision systems,
powertrain systems, electronic systems, roof systems, body & chassis systems,
hybrid & electric vehicle systems, and vehicle engineering & contract assembly.
History The company was founded in 1957 by Frank
Stronach as "Multimatic" and "Multimatic Motorsports". This company merged with
Magna Electronics in 1969, and the combined company became Magna
International in 1973. Magna acquired 80% of New Venture Gear,
once a joint venture between General Motors and Chrysler, in September 2004,
and combined it into Magna Powertrain. It assumed full ownership in 2007.
Magna purchased CTS Fahrzeug-Dachsysteme, a supplier of
convertible roofs, from Porsche in November 2005.
The Sunday Telegraph in London reported January 2007 that Magna International
was on a short list of bidders to purchase Aston Martin. Their bid was
unsuccessful; the company instead went to a British consortium led by Dave
Richards of Prodrive for £479 million. According to a NPR broadcast on March
23, 2007, Magna showed interest in acquiring the Chrysler division of
DaimlerChrysler. However, on 14 May 2007, it was announced that Cerberus
Capital Management had won the acquisition bid for $7.4 billion.
In April 2008, Magna's wholly owned subsidiary, Cosma International,
announced that they were buying the Ogihara America Corp. stamping plant in
Birmingham, Alabama, that makes parts for Mercedes-Benz and other automakers.
In May 2015, the company announced that it would develop a 105-acre parcel of
land it owned on the southeast corner of King Road and Jane Street in King City
to build its new corporate headquarters. The development is expected to be
completed by the end of 2017, and will include its 200,000 square feet head
office, into which will be consolidated other offices it operates, including its
headquarters in Aurora and office and research centres in Newmarket and
throughout Peel Region. It will also lease retail space at that site to other
tenants. In July 2015, Magna bought the German
company Getrag, specialized in transmission systems with about 13,500
employees, for 1.9 billion dollars. = Electric vehicles =
In October 2008, Magna Electronics acquired BluWav Systems LLC, a
Michigan-based company that focused on propulsion and energy management for
electric vehicles and trains. Together with the electric- and hybrid-vehicle
capabilities of other Magna groups, the company began to assemble all of its
electric and hybrid propulsion activities into one entity. On August
31, 2010, Magna E-Cars Systems was formed as a joint venture between Magna
and its founder's enterprise. One of Magna E-Car Systems' early
successes is supplying the powertrain on the upcoming Ford Focus Electric
vehicle. This project started in 2008. A few months after a round of preliminary
discussions with Ford Motor Company with regard to all-electric vehicles, Magna
made a surprise visit to Ford in August 2008 to demonstrate a Ford Focus it had
procured and converted to battery operation on its own time and expense.
The result was a contract to supply an electric drivetrain for the North
American version of the 2011 all-electric Ford Focus Electric. By
August 2009, a team of Magna employees were working along with Ford engineers
in Dearborn. In October, industry publication Ward's Auto World reported
that Magna has been approached by several other automakers worldwide to
acquire or purchase the same technology, which Magna says is designed to be
custom-configured for a variety of applications. The risk behind the
initiative is that only a few so called "compliance cars" will be sold to cope
with Corporate Average Fuel Economy-regulations.
Political connections The firm is also known for its political
connections, such as having former Premiers of Ontario on its board, as
well as connections with numerous other former politicians. Some politicians who
have had notable positions with Magna include Mike Harris and Brian Tobin,
retired Premiers of Ontario and Newfoundland & Labrador, respectively,
and the latter also a once prominent federal minister of Fisheries and
Oceans. In 1988, Frank Stronach ran as a candidate for parliament for the federal
Liberal Party, but was defeated. Magna International has also been noted
for its connections to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and the
Ontario Liberal Party. In 2003, the Progressive Conservatives under Ernie
Eves presented the provincial budget at a Magna plant leading to accusations
that the government was violating centuries of parliamentary tradition. It
is believed that this decision had a negative impact on the Progressive
Conservatives in the next provincial election.
Based on documents obtained by Wikileaks, a Special Prosecutor for
Corruption and Organized Crime in Spain, Jose Grinda Gonzalez, stated that "the
USA government has a strategic problem in that the Russian mafia is suspected
of having a sizable investment in General Motors via its interest in
Canadian auto parts maker Magna International".
Restatement On May 18, 2000, the company restated
its net income and earnings per share due to an accounting policy change
relating to design and engineering and pre-production start-up costs. On May 2,
2001, the company restated diluted earnings per share due to an accounting
policy change related to the adoption of the treasury stock method.
See also Linamar
MI Developments Inc. References
External links Official website