Magna International

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Magna International Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: MGA
TSX: MG
Industry Auto and Truck parts
Founded 1957
Headquarters Aurora, Ontario, Canada
Key people
 Donald Walker, CEO
Vincent J. Galifi, Executive VP & CFO
Swamy Kotagiri, Chief Technology Officer
Revenue Increase US$ 036.641 billion (2014)[1]
Increase US$ 02.54 billion (2014)[1]
Increase US$ 001.88 billion (2014)[1]
Total assets Increase US$ 18.13billion (2014)[1]
Total equity Increase US$ 08.6 billion (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 124,000
Website www.magna.com

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.[2] 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.[citation needed] In addition to the Big 3 U.S. automakers, Magna's major customers include Tesla Motors, Volkswagen, BMW and Toyota.[3] In Europe, Magna Steyr holds contracts for the assembly of the Peugeot RCZ and Mini Countryman.[4]

Magna has approximately 124,000 employees in 287 manufacturing operations and 81 product development, engineering and sales centres in 29 countries.[5] Magna operates under a corporate constitution[6] which calls for distribution of profits to employees and shareholders. The terms of this contract are "fair enterprise" according to Frank Stronach, company founder.[citation needed]

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.[7]

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.[8] Their bid was unsuccessful; the company instead went to a British consortium led by Dave Richards of Prodrive for £479 million.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11] The development is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, and will include its 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) 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.[12] It will also lease retail space at that site to other tenants.[11]

In July 2015, Magna bought the German company Getrag, specialized in transmission systems with about 13,500 employees, for 1.9 billion dollars.[13]

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[14] was formed as a joint venture between Magna and its founder's enterprise.[15]

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 (BEV) vehicles, Magna made a surprise visit[16] to Ford in August 2008 to demonstrate a Ford Focus it had procured and converted to battery operation on its own time and expense.[17] The result was a contract to supply an electric drivetrain for the North American version of the 2011 all-electric Ford Focus Electric.[18] By August 2009, a team of Magna employees were working along with Ford engineers in Dearborn.[19] 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.[20] 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.[citation needed]

Political connections

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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[by whom?] that the government was violating centuries of parliamentary tradition.[citation needed] It is believed that this decision had a negative impact on the Progressive Conservatives in the next provincial election.[citation needed]

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".[21]

Restatement

On May 18, 2000, the company restated its net income and earnings per share (previously $109 million and $1.22 respectively) due to an accounting policy change relating to design and engineering and pre-production start-up costs.[22] On May 2, 2001, the company restated diluted earnings per share (previously $1.55) due to an accounting policy change related to the adoption of the treasury stock method.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ http://www.magna.com/capabilities/vehicle-engineering-contract-manufacturing/product-services/contract-manufacturing/complete-vehicle-production Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  5. ↑ http://www.magna.com/media/press-releases-news/news-page/2014/01/15/press-release---magna-announces-outlook
  6. ↑ Magna Constitution from Magna website
  7. ↑ Magna Int. 2011 annual report
  8. ↑ http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=496ec29d-6cc5-4775-a3a7-dcde6508667c
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Canadian auto parts maker Magna to buy Germany's Getrag for $1.9 billion, Euan Rocha et Allison Martell, Reuters, 16 juillet 2015
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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