Magna Starts the Search for Battery Production Partner

Just after it failed to snatch Opel, Magna promised to stay away from ailing companies that are looking for new owners and concentrate on its very own supplying business. Still, Magna is a very active player in the automotive industry and, even if didn't take control of Opel, it continues to make efforts to expand its operations in every single area of the sector.

For instance, Magna is now planning to find a partner for battery production, CEO Don Walker told Reuters in an interview at the 2010 North American International Auto Show. Slowly, Magna is aiming to migrate towards battery production and thus become a lithium-ion battery manufacturer with several factories in North America.

"We think lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles are the best technology," Walker said.

"We've been working on batteries for many years so we think we know pretty all the players (in cell manufacturing). We have our opinion of who the winners and losers can be," he said.

Just as expected, Magna is closely monitoring the Chinese market, a separate side of the industry that continued to grow in 2009, despite the difficult times experienced by the rest of the countries.

"We are keeping a close watch on what's out there," he said.

"We're looking at a number of different acquisitions. Powertrains are going to grow and change as we get into electric vehicles and hybrids. Geographic areas we want to grow are China, Brasil, India .... Russia will be a growth market," Walker said. "At the end of the day, they have to make financial sense as well as strategic sense."