Magna,BJEV to Make ELetric Cars in World's Fastest Growing NEV Market
James Boynton
DATE:  Jul 12 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai

(Yicai Global) July 12 -- Beijing Electric Vehicle and Canadian parts maker Magna International are setting up two joint ventures to make new-energy vehicles and carry out contract manufacturing in the world's largest auto market.

The pair have penned an agreement to base the new firms at a plant owned by BAIC Group, BJEV's parent, in Jiangsu province, and begin producing 180,000 units a year in 2020. The deal still needs to be finalized and to get approval from the regulator.

Many of the world's biggest car markets are looking to prohibit the sale or manufacture of fossil-fueled vehicles within the next 20 or so years, which has prompted carmakers around the globe to gain a foothold in the electric vehicle sector. Global NEV sales grew 58 percent annually to more than 1.2 million last year, and industry researcher EV Volumes believes that could reach 1.9 million this year.

As well as being the world's biggest car market, China is also home to the biggest NEV sector worldwide, even after reducing government subsidies. It was one of the fastest growers in the first quarter this year, more than doubling sales from last year's first three months to 132,000.

Ontario-based Magna only has one other venture outside of North America. That's a firm in Austria through which it makes cars for the likes of BMW and Jaguar Land Rover.

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Keywords:   Magna,Automobile Manufacture