Magna’s new Bengaluru centre to cater more to global demand

Magna International opened a 2.4-lakh-sq-ft engineering centre in Bengaluru on Monday. The Canadian auto parts maker, which invested $120 million in it, aims to use the facility to develop tech products for the e-mobility sector and focus on powertrain electrification, electronics and software-defined vehicle development.

It plans to hire over 1,000 engineers at the key facility by December 2023. In an interview with DH’s Prathik Desai, Magna Chief Technology Officer Anton Mayer elaborated on its uniqueness, key focus areas and other plans for India. Edited excerpts:

Q. Magna has three other centres in India. What is unique about this one?

A. The speciality of this engineering centre is the latest software and data & AI (Artificial Intelligence) competencies. From the technology perspective, this centre will have an advantage in terms of updated software-as-a-service, data and AI tools, and also main controllers around the powertrain.

Q. Besides e-mobility, will this centre also have any offerings for internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles?

A. There are different topics that are agnostic to the powertrain. For example, the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) is agnostic in an electric vehicle or an IC vehicle. Also, some connectivity entertainment software is agnostic of the powertrain. So, surely we will use this centre of Bengaluru for components of both of them.

Q. With this centre, what kind of OEMs do you intend to cater to?

A. The biggest portion of our existing customers is passenger vehicles. And in passenger vehicles, we have worked with local players like Tata and Mahindra, but also with global players like GM. Besides this, our investment in Yulu shows that we also want to invest in last-mile connectivity, which currently has about 10,000 two-wheelers, but in the next three years is expected to reach 500,000 vehicles.

Q. Can we expect more support for battery-swapping infrastructure from this centre?

A. While we have not confirmed the details, Magna's centre in Bengaluru wants to support this facility and this is a key focus for us.

Q. Is it safe to assume that a major part of your business will be from India?

A. I would say it is more going global than just in India.