Magna to build BMW’s new hybrid as the world’s only contract auto manufacturer. More of this to come.
We've been anticipating this and now it's happening and it's big news. The blur between supplier and OEM in the automotive sector is increasing. The giant Canadian-based automotive supplier to OEMs has announced a new facility in Austria to assemble both the Jaguar I-Pace (JLR) and the BMW 5-Series plug-in hybrid vehicles. Now, with contract manufacturer responsibilities, a firm like Magna is moving toward status as a "partner OEM". This is likely to portend other moves where suppliers take on assembly of specialized vehicles for legacy OEMs, but also for some of the new-on-scene tech-oriented automotive start-ups.