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Magna Takes GM's Russian Plants

Following the success in the Opel deal, Canadian company Magna and its Russian bank Sberbank partner will also take over the facilities operated by GM in Russia. The plants will be handed by GM over to the new Opel, according to the Russian bank's chief.

The CEO said GM's joint venture with Russia's largest carmaker, AvtoVAz, as well as the factory near St. Petersburg will pass over to the consortium led by Magna, Autonews reported. For the time being, the facilities will produce 200,000 vehicles each year, but the prospects to build more do exist.

"We want this production to be integrated with other Russian carmakers, so that they can get the chance to modernize their production and participate in the cooperation," German Gref, Sberbank CEO was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.

The news comes not as a surprise, as it is know that American manufacturer GM is shedding it European operations. In addition, Russia was since the beginning a target for Magna, especially because, according to the agreement signed with GM, it is not allowed to sell Opel models in the US and China.

In Russia, GAZ group will have a role as an industrial partner for the Opel deal. As Gref said, the country was behind in terms of technology and the deal between Magna and Opel is the perfect tool to bring new tech to the country.

The goal for the consortium is to sell around 1,000,000 units in Russia. Still no news came regarding what vehicles will be built in the Russian plants. Magna did say in mid May it plans to use GM facilities to build cars for other car makers as well, including Ford and PSA Peugeot Citroen.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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