Magna has announced its intention to form two new joint ventures with Beijing Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd (BJEV) for complete vehicle manufacturing as well as engineering of electric vehicles. BJEV, a subsidiary of the BAIC Group for electric cars, and Magna, a global automotive supplier and the world's leading brand-independent vehicle contract manufacturer, gathered today to sign term sheets for the new joint ventures. Executives from both companies were joined by Wu Zhenglong, Governor of Jiangsu Province and officials from Zhenjiang at a signing ceremony held in Nanjing. Over the coming months, Magna and BJEV will work with authorities to implement legally binding joint-venture agreements which will govern the operations of these two joint ventures.

The engineering and manufacturing joint ventures are expected to take over an existing BAIC manufacturing facility in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, where the first production vehicles are planned for 2020. The plant has the capacity to build up to 180,000 vehicles per year.

The joint ventures will also be set up to offer engineering and complete vehicle manufacturing capacity to other potential customers.

"These joint venture operations mark an historic milestone for Magna. For the first time we will be providing our customers with cars engineered and built outside our complete vehicle manufacturing facility in Graz, Austria," said Don Walker, CEO of Magna International Inc. "It's a unique capability for Magna, especially with our ability to produce vehicles with conventional, hybrid and electric powertrains, and we are excited to bring it to a market like China where there is tremendous opportunity."  

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