Magna begins production of complete seat systems, body and chassis systems for Ford

Magna International has this month started production at two new manufacturing facilities in Sanand, Gujarat, India. Both plants are located in a supplier park next to Ford Motor’s assembly plant. The new facilities provide assembly and just-in-time delivery of complete seat systems for Ford. The company expects to produce 240,000 complete seat systems annually once the plant reaches full production. The second facility, spread across 356,000 square feet, manufactures body and chassis systems for Ford. Magna currently employs around 1,600 people in India and has 11 manufacturing locations and three engineering centres in the country, including the two new facilities in Gujarat. Magna expects that the investment in India will position the company well for expected future growth in the region.

In addition to this, Magneti Marelli’s joint-venture (JV) company with Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Company has inaugurated a new facility for the production of automated manual transmissions (AMT).  Magneti Marelli aims to leverage the growing trend for AMTs and meet demand from local automakers with the new facility. The supplier has already equipped vehicles such as Maruti Alto, Maruti Celerio, Tata Nano and Tata Zest with its AMT gearbox in India. Magneti Marelli aims to double its revenues in India within three years’ time to EUR400 million (USD438.4 million). Bosch has also stated that it plans to invest a total of EUR100 million (USD112.2 million) in its Indian business in order to boost its market presence in the country. OEMs are also increasing production in the region, for example reports say that Renault is to double production of its Kwid model in India.

The announcements are part of a greater strategy amongst manufacturers of increasing India’s role as an export hub. The Modi government’s “Make in India” plan is encouraging automotive manufacturers to add production in the country for export markets. Maruti Suzuki and Ford plan to use some part of their future production capacity for exports from India, and Ford recently inaugurated its second plant at Sanand in India. Renault-Nissan and Hyundai already use their manufacturing plants in India for exporting to Europe and other markets. Hyundai's focus on exports is expected to decrease in the future, though, as the domestic market becomes more prominent, whereas models like the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo and Ford EcoSport are expected to reach good export volumes in the medium to long term. Mexico has also been added as a new export destination for Chevrolet Spark.

India’s domestic market will also continue to benefit from improved consumer sentiment due to lower crude oil prices, benign inflation and a series of interest rate cuts, expected to also offer tailwinds next year. Light vehicle production is expected to grow 6% y/y in 2015 to 3.81 million units, on the back of expected strong growth in domestic sales with new launches.

Contacts

Copyright © 2025 S&P Global Inc. All rights reserved.

These materials, including any software, data, processing technology, index data, ratings, credit-related analysis, research, model, software or other application or output described herein, or any part thereof (collectively the “Property”) constitute the proprietary and confidential information of S&P Global Inc its affiliates (each and together “S&P Global”) and/or its third party provider licensors. S&P Global on behalf of itself and its third-party licensors reserves all rights in and to the Property. These materials have been prepared solely for information purposes based upon information generally available to the public and from sources believed to be reliable.
Any copying, reproduction, reverse-engineering, modification, distribution, transmission or disclosure of the Property, in any form or by any means, is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of S&P Global. The Property shall not be used for any unauthorized or unlawful purposes. S&P Global’s opinions, statements, estimates, projections, quotes and credit-related and other analyses are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security, and there is no obligation on S&P Global to update the foregoing or any other element of the Property. S&P Global may provide index data. Direct investment in an index is not possible. Exposure to an asset class represented by an index is available through investable instruments based on that index. The Property and its composition and content are subject to change without notice.

THE PROPERTY IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. NEITHER S&P GLOBAL NOR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS (TOGETHER, “S&P GLOBAL PARTIES”) MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE PROPERTY’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE PROPERTY WILL OPERATE IN ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, NOR ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO ITS ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS, OR TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE PROPERTY. S&P GLOBAL PARTIES SHALL NOT IN ANY WAY BE LIABLE TO ANY RECIPIENT FOR ANY INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE. Without limiting the foregoing, S&P Global Parties shall have no liability whatsoever to any recipient, whether in contract, in tort (including negligence), under warranty, under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any recipient as a result of or in connection with the Property, or any course of action determined, by it or any third party, whether or not based on or relating to the Property. In no event shall S&P Global be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees or losses (including without limitation lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Property even if advised of the possibility of such damages. The Property should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions.

The S&P Global logo is a registered trademark of S&P Global, and the trademarks of S&P Global used within this document or materials are protected by international laws. Any other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The inclusion of a link to an external website by S&P Global should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the website's owners (or their products/services). S&P Global is not responsible for either the content or output of external websites. S&P Global keeps certain activities of its divisions separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain divisions of S&P Global may have information that is not available to other S&P Global divisions. S&P Global has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P Global may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P Global reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P Global Ratings’ public ratings and analyses are made available on its sites, www.spglobal.com/ratings (free of charge) and www.capitaliq.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P Global publications and third party redistributors.