Magna Steyr Wants a Climate-Friendly Manufacturing Plant Somewhere In The U.S.

Could Magna Steyr be eyeing its first U.S. plant?

Magna Steyr, an Austrian contract-based automotive manufacturer, is looking to build its first U.S. plant, according to Automotive News’s sister site Automobilwoche. Currently, the corporation largely operates in Europe, but there are rumblings that the company wants to build a “climate-friendly” plant.

What is climate-friendly? Automotive News Europe reports that the plant would need enough wind and sun to produce its own electricity. It would need to be close enough to other automotive suppliers, have enough of a suitable population with the ability to work at the plant, and “plenty of space.” Interestingly enough, the company’s vice president Kurt Bachmaier, wouldn’t confirm where Magna Steyr was looking, but he did confirm that it won’t be California.

Currently, Magna-Strayer is contracted to build the forthcoming Fisker Ocean EV crossover. But, the Fisker Ocean will be built in Austria, at least for now, until the planned Lordstown, Ohio plant is officially up and running. Still, Fisker has more models in its brand pipeline, like the Pear compact EV – if Fisker can’t get U.S.-based manufacturing up and running soon, its models could be price uncompetitive because of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act only incentivizes US-assembled EVs, meaning the Austrian-made Ocean doesn’t qualify.

Of the same token, Magna Steyr is a contract manufacturer with years of experience. Many EV startups have run into manufacturing binds; outsourcing manufacturing to a company like Magna Strayer might be just the ticket to getting the products out the door and on the road.

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