Magna International Inc. has announced the establishment of two new facilities in the Sanand region of the state of Gujarat, India, as the company continues to expand its global engineering and manufacturing footprint. While the new plants reflect business awards for vehicle programs built off global-platforms, they also help position Magna for further growth in India as vehicle production expands.
At one of the new Sanand facilities, Magna will make complete seat systems for a leading automaker. The 215,000-square-foot plant will employ approximately 200 people and is expected to begin volume production in 2015.
At Magna's second new facility in Sanand, the company will manufacture body and chassis systems for multiple customers. The 356,000-square-foot plant will employ approximately 400 people and also expects to begin volume production in 2015.
"Magna's growth in markets such as India reflects our customers' need for world-class, innovative suppliers," said Jim Tobin, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Magna Asia. "With almost a million square feet of capacity now installed in India, we believe we are extremely well-positioned to support the increasing vehicle production forecast for the Indian automotive industry."
Magna's growing presence in India also includes the following existing facilities:
- a 279,000-square-foot body and chassis plant in Pune which performs blanking, stamping, forming, as well as welding and assembly on programs for customers such as General Motors, Volkswagen, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra;
- a 225,000-square-foot body and chassis plant in Chennai which performs stamping, welding and assembly for customers such as Ford and Nissan in India, as well as customers outside India;
- a seating design and engineering center in Pune; and
- a vacuum pump manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, serving customers such as Maruti Suzuki, Honda Cars India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Renault-Nissan and Tata Motors.
In addition, Magna is able to provide its customers in India broad product and process expertise on a local basis, as well as global program coordination through a body and chassis engineering centre in Bengaluru, seating and full-vehicle engineering centres in Pune, and a latch and closure engineering centre in Chennai.
Magna's current presence in India includes approximately 1,600 employees. With the two new Sanand facilities, Magna will have 11 manufacturing locations and four engineering centres.
