Magna International Inc. Comes to Telford
Canadian Automotive company, Magna International Inc. today announced it will build a new world-class aluminium casting facility in Telford bringing almost 300 jobs to the borough.
Magna is one of the leading suppliers in the European automotive market, with complete vehicle engineering and assembly operations in Graz, Austria they are adding Telford to their list of 154 facilities and have over 53,000 employees throughout Europe.
Construction is expected to start in the autumn of 2016.
Once production begins in 2018, the facility will use Magna’s innovative high-pressure vacuum die casting process to produce a number of advanced lightweight aluminium castings – a key building block in the next generation all-aluminium and multi-material vehicle architectures.
By utilising these types of castings, Magna helps automakers deliver maximum strength, stiffness and minimum weight ultimately achieving better fuel economy, safety and handling.
“We are excited to work closely with Jaguar Land Rover in the development of this project which will bring the most advanced structural casting technologies to the UK,” said John Farrell, President of Cosma International, an operating unit of Magna International. “As lightweighting continues to be a key technology driver, we are uniquely positioned to help automakers achieve optimal weight savings throughout the vehicle architecture.”
Last year, Magna bought Stadco, another firm with its roots in Shropshire. Stadco has industry leading expertise in the automotive industry in the supply of steel and aluminum stampings as well as complex vehicle assemblies to customers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Stadco has four manufacturing facilities located in the UK and one in Germany, employing in total approximately 1,400 people.
Hats off to Telford lad Matt Tilt of LSH for getting the deal over the finish line.