Canada auto parts giant Magna expanding in China, India

Magna International, Canada's giant auto parts supplier, expects to open 29 new plants in several countries including in India by 2019 as it races to meet the demand for new high-tech driver assistance technologies.

Jim Tobin, Magna's chief marketing officer, said yesterday that Magna plans to build nine new plants in China. Four of them will open this year and five more are scheduled over the next two years.

"We've got the engineering and technical depth so we're able to offer competitive solutions to our customers," noted Tobin during a briefing at Magna's offices near Detroit, Michigan.

"China is our biggest area of growth, but we're also expanding in India, North America and Europe," he said.

With automotive production worldwide expected to climb to 100 million units annually, Magna, the largest automotive supplier in North America and the third largest in the world, is expanding to address demand despite the current global economic slump.

It is building three new plants in India and two in South America; six are being developed in Western and Eastern Europe; and seven more are planned for North America.

Altogether Magna currently has 309 plants in 29 different countries.

Magna's services cover traditional technology such as metal forming and framing, assembling components for power trains and vehicle seats.

Ian Simmons, vice president of business development and research and development, said the company also can offer customers expertise in electronics, including advanced driver- assistance systems such as automatic forward braking systems designed to avoid collisions, and cyber security.

Magna is one of the largest suppliers of back-up cameras, which will soon be standard on every vehicle sold in the United States, and is experimenting with adding cameras that would either replace or augment rearview mirrors.

Magna also is developing built-in seat sensors to monitor a driver's biorhythms and detect if a driver is falling asleep. Simmons also said Magna is engaged in projects to reduce the weight of vehicles and bolster fuel economy with aluminum-cast parts.