Magna will invest $500 million to expand EV facilities and bring over 1,500 new jobs to Michigan
Contract manufacturing superpower Magna International announced it is investing over $500 million to erect two new manufacturing facilities and expand a third in the state of Michigan. The new and expanded Magna facilities will develop components specifically for the growing market of electric vehicles and are expected to create over 1,500 new jobs in Michigan.
Even if you aren’t already aware of Magna International, there’s a very high chance you’ve driven a vehicle with at least one component the multi-national contract manufacturer has built. With over 130 manufacturing and assembly facilities in North America, alongside footprints in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, Magna is one of the names in building quality auto components.
As the automotive industry as a whole pivots steadily toward electrified models, Magna has adapted its manufacturing as well. By developing everything from electrified powertrains, to ADAS systems, and entire EVs, Magna is providing several OEMs with the technology and components to go all-electric.
For instance, its current facility in St. Clair, Michigan, is where Magna produces steel EV battery enclosures for GMC’s Hummer EV. According to an announcement today, Magna is allocating over $500 million to expand that current Michigan site and build two additional facilities to support the production of vital EV components.
Magna shared its latest expansion plans in a press release today, outlining how it intends to add to its existing footprint of 32 facilities and over 10,000 employees in Michigan alone.
In addition to the expansion of battery enclosure manufacturing in St. Clair, Michigan, Magna will erect new facilities to build powertrains in Shelby Township and seating components in Detroit. Magna’s chief marketing and sales officer Eric Wilds spoke to the company’s new $500 million commitment:
With our unmatched capabilities across our product areas, we continue to work with our customers to help them meet their mobility needs. We are excited to be able to bring new business, more investment and additional jobs to Michigan and we thank the state for its support.
According to The Detroit News, the Michigan Strategic Fund board approved $10.2 million in state program grants for Magna International in support of its $500 million investment to expand. With its own financial commitment and state grants in place, Magna looks to deliver the following in the state of Michigan:
- Add a 740,000-square-foot expansion to the existing St. Clair facility, creating an expected 920 new jobs
- Erect an entirely new 200,000-square-foot greenfield powertrain facility in Shelby Township to supply battery tray components to EVs from OEMs that is expected to create 155 new jobs
- Build a new 110,000-square-foot Magna brownfield facility (expected to create 490 new jobs when it reaches full production) in Detroit, Michigan, to supply seat frames, trim, and foam to “a US-based automaker”
This is a savvy move by a major contract manufacturer as more and more automakers look to move their vehicle and battery component assemblies onto US soil to qualify for federal tax credits under revised terms in the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act.
For example, the upcoming Fisker Ocean originally qualified for credits but no longer will beginning January 1, 2023 because it will be assembled overseas by Magna International’s Austrian-based division, Magna-Steyr.
As we reported back in September, Magna-Steyr is considering a contract assembly plant in North America and is currently evaluating potential locations based on how sunny and windy it is, hinting at intentions to build a climate-friendly facility powered by renewables.
Since Magna International is the top contract manufacturer on the continent, we’d expect many more foreign automakers to work with the company to establish US manufacturing and assembly. With today’s latest news from Michigan, Magna appears to already be making moves to prepare for such production expansions on US soil.
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In a move that helps the brand duck protectionist anti-Chinese tariffs, Volvo Cars has switched production of its award-winning EX30 models destined for US roads from its Zhangjiakou plant in China to the Ghent facility in Belgium.
Volvo EX30 production began in the company’s Ghent factory back in April, but those first cars were earmarked for the Swedish domestic and European export markets, but that move wasn’t primarily motivated by avoiding tariffs. As Electrive reports, the company seemed happy enough to continue importing its small electric crossover from China and accepting the new 28.8% tariffs (up from 10%), but the wait times to get the vehicles shipped in from China was imply too long.
In 2024, Swedish and German buyers had to wait up to eight months for their EX30 in some cases, according to Volvo Cars’ European boss, Arek Nowinski, per Automotive News. Once production in Ghent is fully up to speed, however, wait times should be cut to about 90 days. Those wait times, and the price hike associated with the tariffs, have hurt sales of the originally Chinese-made Volvo EV. In 2024, for example, the EX30 ranked third in European EV sales, but slipped out of the top 10 first half of 2025.
“The car is now being built in Europe, which means faster delivery times,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson to Automotive News. “We should return to the sales and market share figures for the EX30 that we had before the introduction of tariffs.”
Coming to Staying in America
The EX30’s switch to Ghent is good news for American fans of the compact, lickety-quick Volvo EV. Now that it’s no longer exclusively made in China, Volvo has decided to give it a stay of execution as it revamps its US product lineup to better align with market trends (read: SUVs) and the changing political landscape (read: tariffs and inflation).
The reason? The Made in China version of the EX30 would virtually unsellable in the US due to the implementation of 147% tariffs on vehicles imported from China. Vehicles imported from Europe, meanwhile, carry just 15% tariffs, keeping the EX30 in a competitive price bracket.
Expect to see both Ghent and South Carolina play an increasingly large role in Volvo’s US product mix – at least for the next three-odd years.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars, Automotive News, via Electrive.
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New filings have revealed that BYD is about to release a ridiculous 3,000 hp electric supercar: the Yangwang U9 Track Edition.
BYD already shocked the world when it launched the Yangwang U9, its first all-electric supercar.
It featured four advanced electric motors with a combined power of nearly 1,300 horsepower. The U9 can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.36 seconds.
With a motor at each wheel and a highly advanced electric-air suspension, the U9 can turn on itself and even jump over potholes.
But that was only the beginning.
Based on a new filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), BYD is preparing to launch a new ‘Track Edition’ of the Yangwang U9:
When an automaker releases a “track” version of a car, it typically primarily features body changes for better aerodynamic performance, adding downforce, and it will also often feature bigger brakes.
The Yangwang U9 ‘Track Edition’ appears to feature all that… and much more.
The filing reveals that BYD updated the motors at each wheel to a new 555 kW motor. That’s a higher-performing motor than in most performance electric vehicles. The U9 Track Edition has four of them for a total of 2,220 kW (3,019 hp).
I would have thought that this was a typo if it wasn’t for the insane electric vehicles coming out of China these days.
Here are a few pictures from the MIIT filing:
There are a lot of performance specs that are not included in the MIIT filing. Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the vehicle is fully unveiled and BYD reveals what kind of performance it can achieve with 3,000 hp packed in 4 electric motors.
Here are a few other features mentioned in the filing:
Standard features:
- 20-inch wheels with 325/35 R20 tyres
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Large fixed carbon-fibre rear wing
- Rear diffuser with adjustable blades for aerodynamic optimisation
Optional aerodynamic parts:
- Standard or enhanced carbon-fibre front splitter
- Electric rear wing
Electrek’s Take
How are they going to keep that thing from flying away? Seriously.
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