BMW's X3 Is Built by Magna Steyr as Outsourcing Grows
02-04-2004, 11:29 AM
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BMW's X3 Is Built by Magna Steyr as Outsourcing Grows
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Visitors to Magna Steyr AG's research and development center in Graz, Austria, have to register with a guard at the gate, be escorted past a camera and traverse two sets of security doors that can only be opened by electronic passes.
The procedures are designed to prevent the company's clients - - DaimlerChrysler AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and General Motors Corp. -- from seeing what new models Magna Steyr is working on for their competitors.
European automakers are handing production of niche models to companies such as Magna, based in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz. They can save time and hundreds of millions of euros of investment in factories. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Crossfire sports car is made by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Osnabrueck, Germany, and most of Porsche AG's Boxsters are built in Uusikaupunki, Finland, by Valmet Automotive Oyj.
Munich-based BMW contracted production of its new X3 sport- utility vehicle to Magna Steyr to avoid having to construct a plant, saving two years in bringing the vehicle to market, spokesman Marc Hassinger said. The company began selling the X3 in Europe on Jan. 10, giving it an edge over Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler, which won't have a competing model until 2006.
Hiring other companies to handle car production isn't limited to luxury makers. General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen contract out construction of some models. Magna Steyr said it has more than doubled auto output in the past two years and expects to double it again over the next four to five years.
Competitors include France's Henri Heuliez SA, which will build a roadster-coupe for General Motors' German unit, Adam Opel
BMW is building a factory in Leipzig, Germany, to make space for a new model called the 1-Series. The company doesn't have the capacity at its existing plants to build the X3 and needed to turn to an outside partner or wait several years while it constructed a new factory to bring out the model, said BMW's spokesman Hassinger.
He declined to comment on the extent of its investment in the production plants of Magna Steyr or on the companies' relationship. The company also introduced the 6-Series coupe this year, which it builds itself.
The X3, which starts at 40,300 euros, is smaller and less expensive than the X5, DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes M-Class and Porsche's Cayenne. DaimlerChrysler plans to bring out a competitor to the X3 in 2006. It will build an SUV based on its four-passenger Smart forfour car to be built at its own factory in Brazil.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Crossfire shares almost 39 percent of Mercedes-Benz parts, many of them with the Mercedes SLK sports car.
The point of assembly where the car body is joined to the motor and chassis is called the marriage. At most modern auto factories the marriage is either done automatically or by one or two workers. At the Mercedes-Benz E-Class assembly line at Magna Steyr's factory, five workers handle the marriage.
Magna Steyr first began making cars for other manufacturers with the Mercedes G-Class in 1979. The company still makes the off-road vehicles, both stripped-down versions for military use around the world and luxury sport-utility vehicles that can cost some 100,000 euros.
Magna Steyr specializes in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It started with a stripped-down, all-metal vehicle called the Haflinger in 1959 for the Austrian army. The company honed its technology with the Pinzgauer four-wheel-drive truck used by British army in Iraq.
In addition to the X3, Magna Steyr builds a convertible version of the Saab 93 for General Motors, a four-wheel-drive version of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes E-Class, the Chrysler Voyager minivan, and the Mercedes G-Class sport-utility vehicle, including the military version. Its largest project to date is production of the X3. The company will produce some 80,000 to 100,000 units annually.
The procedures are designed to prevent the company's clients - - DaimlerChrysler AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and General Motors Corp. -- from seeing what new models Magna Steyr is working on for their competitors.
European automakers are handing production of niche models to companies such as Magna, based in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown of Graz. They can save time and hundreds of millions of euros of investment in factories. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Crossfire sports car is made by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH in Osnabrueck, Germany, and most of Porsche AG's Boxsters are built in Uusikaupunki, Finland, by Valmet Automotive Oyj.
Munich-based BMW contracted production of its new X3 sport- utility vehicle to Magna Steyr to avoid having to construct a plant, saving two years in bringing the vehicle to market, spokesman Marc Hassinger said. The company began selling the X3 in Europe on Jan. 10, giving it an edge over Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler, which won't have a competing model until 2006.
Hiring other companies to handle car production isn't limited to luxury makers. General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and PSA Peugeot Citroen contract out construction of some models. Magna Steyr said it has more than doubled auto output in the past two years and expects to double it again over the next four to five years.
Competitors include France's Henri Heuliez SA, which will build a roadster-coupe for General Motors' German unit, Adam Opel
BMW is building a factory in Leipzig, Germany, to make space for a new model called the 1-Series. The company doesn't have the capacity at its existing plants to build the X3 and needed to turn to an outside partner or wait several years while it constructed a new factory to bring out the model, said BMW's spokesman Hassinger.
He declined to comment on the extent of its investment in the production plants of Magna Steyr or on the companies' relationship. The company also introduced the 6-Series coupe this year, which it builds itself.
The X3, which starts at 40,300 euros, is smaller and less expensive than the X5, DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes M-Class and Porsche's Cayenne. DaimlerChrysler plans to bring out a competitor to the X3 in 2006. It will build an SUV based on its four-passenger Smart forfour car to be built at its own factory in Brazil.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Crossfire shares almost 39 percent of Mercedes-Benz parts, many of them with the Mercedes SLK sports car.
The point of assembly where the car body is joined to the motor and chassis is called the marriage. At most modern auto factories the marriage is either done automatically or by one or two workers. At the Mercedes-Benz E-Class assembly line at Magna Steyr's factory, five workers handle the marriage.
Magna Steyr first began making cars for other manufacturers with the Mercedes G-Class in 1979. The company still makes the off-road vehicles, both stripped-down versions for military use around the world and luxury sport-utility vehicles that can cost some 100,000 euros.
Magna Steyr specializes in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It started with a stripped-down, all-metal vehicle called the Haflinger in 1959 for the Austrian army. The company honed its technology with the Pinzgauer four-wheel-drive truck used by British army in Iraq.
In addition to the X3, Magna Steyr builds a convertible version of the Saab 93 for General Motors, a four-wheel-drive version of DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes E-Class, the Chrysler Voyager minivan, and the Mercedes G-Class sport-utility vehicle, including the military version. Its largest project to date is production of the X3. The company will produce some 80,000 to 100,000 units annually.
02-06-2004, 10:50 AM
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Originally posted by Chaptorial
Well they did a horrible job with the new X3. It looks like crap.
Well they did a horrible job with the new X3. It looks like crap.
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