Magna to invest over USD 120 mn for setting up new engineering centre in Bengaluru

Canadian auto parts maker Magna on Thursday announced its plan to invest over USD 120 million (about Rs 984 crore) for setting up a new engineering centre in Bengaluru.

The 2,40,000 square feet facility is expected to open in the first quarter of next year and will serve as a key centre for the company in powertrain electrification, electronics and software defined vehicle development, Magna said. The announcement came weeks after the firm said it was investing USD 77 million for acquiring a stake in the Bengaluru-based bike sharing platform Yulu and setting up a battery swapping company.

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Magna said that some 1,000 engineers and technical experts, working on software and system development, simulation, testing and vehicle integration, as well as digital, data and cloud solutions for electric vehicle programmes, are expected to be hired by the end of next year, with the capacity to add up to 250 more as needed. “To match pace with the automotive industry’s acceleration in cleaner mobility solutions, Magna is investing more than USD 120-million to establish and operate a new engineering centre, Magna Innovation Campus, in Bengaluru to support e-mobility,” the company said.

Vehicles and their systems are becoming more electrified and software-defined, which changes the architecture and how we need to develop them, according to the company. “With this new engineering centre, we can further strengthen our vehicle systems development and IP creation, especially in the areas of e-mobility,” Anton Mayer, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Magna International, said.