Canadian auto component maker, Magna International Inc on Wednesday announced commencement of production at its two new manufacturing facilities set up at the vendor park near Ford Motor Co's facility at Sanand in Gujarat. 

The company will manufacture seat systems and body and chassis systems for Ford. The company did not share financial details of the project.

"We continue to expand our footprint in India to align with our customers and the increasing vehicle production forecast for the Indian automotive industry. At the Sanand facility we have made multi-million dollar investment to make a world-class facility for seat and chassis systems," said Jim Tobin, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Magna Asia.

The company currently has 12 manufacturing locations across India and 285 manufacturing locations globally. "Nearly 116 plants across the globe supply to Ford. We are looking at the next phase of growth to come from India," informed Tobin.

Quoting anlysts' projections about Indian car market, Tobin stated that the Indian market is estimated to grow from a 4 million units currently to about 12 million units by 2030.

Of the two facilities that were inaugurated on Wednesday, the seating systems facility is spread across 215,000 square feet area and will provide employment to approximately 200 people at full production. The Seating system facility has an initial capacity to produce approximately 240,000 complete seat systems per year, which can be increased to up to 500,000 complete seat systems per year in two-shifts production.

At the second new facility to make body and chassis systems is spread on 356,000 square-feet area employing approximately 400 people at full production. The company will supply to Ford Motor for its car models made in Sanand facility. Company's clients in India include Ford, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nissan, and Volkswagen among others.

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