According to a report be theglobeandmail.com, citing BMW's chief financial officer Friedrich Eichiner, BMW fear Magna will turn from supplier to competitor. The main fear is, as with Volkswagen, the fact that Magna may do the unthinkable and "take inspiration" from BMW's parts and use them in Opel vehicles. Although it says it will not terminate ongoing contracts, BMW says it may consider its position in the future.
“Magna has always been a strong supplier to us,” Eichiner was quoted as saying by the source. “However, with Magna acquiring control of Opel, this creates a new situation which we will have to assess. We will not put into question any running contracts with Magna. But where we see conflicts of interest, when it involves innovative technologies, such as new drive train technologies, this of course could create a conflict of interest in the future.”
BMW is one of Magna's biggest client. The German carmaker accounted for 19 percent of Magna's sales in 2008. The Canadian parts maker builds, among other things, the X3 at its Magna Steyr division and adds to the SUV some $2,500 worth of parts. For the 3 Series, Magna's parts amount to $5,000. Even so...
“Magna would be well advised to clearly separate the two businesses. If we saw a conflict of interest we would react,” Frank-Peter Arndt, BMW head of production was quoted as saying by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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