Magna International Inc. has won a contract with BMW AG that will increase vehicle production at its auto manufacturing plant in Graz, Austria.
BMW has awarded the Canadian auto parts giant a contract to assemble its Z4 roadster, Magna said Tuesday.
Production is scheduled to begin late this year and will bring to five the number of vehicle lines Magna is producing at its Magna Steyr operation for various auto makers.
The plant already assembles internal combustion and hybrid engine versions of BMW’s 5-series sedans, as well as the G-class sport utility vehicle for the Mercedes-Benz division of Daimler AG and two models for Jaguar.
The Magna division has been assembling vehicles for BMW since 2003.
Recent contracts have led to the hiring of 3,000 people, taking employment to 10,000 people at Graz, where Magna also has engineering centres and other operations.
Production could hit full capacity of 200,000 vehicles at the assembly operation this year, a spokesman for Magna’s European operations said.
The Aurora, Ont.-based parts company is constructing a paint shop in Slovenia, 75 kilometres from Graz, to ease bottlenecks in the paint shop in the Austrian plant.