Autoblog

The Magna MILA Alpin concept car shown in Geneva has gotten the attention of both Mercedes and BMW. The button-cute 4-wheeler rode on a flexible platform, could utilize a variety of fuel sources, climb 45-degree angles, and get up to 120 mph. Those capabilities, and the ability to be easily rebodied and cost-effectively manufactured, have the two premium brands looking at ways to bolster their lineups and enviro-credentials.

Mercedes is known to be working on developing a 4-wheel-drive A-Class sedan. While the sandwich floors in the A-Class and B-Class cars were specifically created to allow flexible drivetrains, it is open to exploring options with BMW. Those other Bavarians in blue and white appear to be even more serious, having engaged Magna to discuss strategy and market demand. The MILA could provide a sound platform for BMW's electric car rumblings, as well as cost-effective, outsourced manufacturing.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via TTAC]

Okay, so maybe GAZ wasn't really interested in buying Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford, but that hasn't stopped Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska from buying a big chunk of another U.S. automaker. Deripaska is the owner of GAZ and he just bought 5% of General Motors on the open market. Said to be worth about $16.8 billion, Deripaska seems perfectly capable of coughing up the $900 million it will take him to purchase his 5% at Monday's closing price of $32.45 per share. Besides his links to GAZ and now GM, and along with rumors of his interest in Jaguar/Land Rover, Deripaska's Basic Element firm is also about to invest $1.54 billion in Magna International. Seriously, this guy needs a hobby other than spending money.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req.]

Frank Stronach, founder and chairman of Magna International, has acknowledged that his company is definitely making a bid to take control of Chrysler and that they have the money lined up. Magna is partnering with Onex Corporation to make the bid based on $2 billion in cash reserves from Magna with the rest coming from Onex. Stronach doesn't intend to borrow any money up front for the purchase and is thought to have made a bid of about $4.5 billion. Magna and Onex are also considering taking on more partners, presumably so that they can sweeten the bid without borrowing. Stronach also said that more employment bloodletting is "unavoidable" if the deal goes through.

[Source: Toronto Star]

Toronto, Ontario based Magna International is the third largest automotive supplier in the world with 2005 sales of $22.8 billion. They have had a long relationship with DaimlerChrylser both in North America and Europe including running an assembly plant in Graz, Austria that builds various Chrysler models for the European market. Amid the flurry of speculation in recent days about the fate of the Chrysler Group comes a new one from Just-Auto: Magna buys Chrysler and hooks up Wolfgang Bernhard to run the show in Auburn Hills.

Although Magna is a big enough company that they may well be able to pull off such a large transaction, other suppliers are worried about the effects on them. If a company like Magna owned the carmaker would they lock out other competing suppliers like Lear, Johnson Controls, Collins and Aikman and others? Certainly, when GM owned what is now Delphi, it was a lot harder for outside suppliers to bid on contracts that Delphi also produced like brake and steering systems. The other big part of this speculation has Wolfgang Bernhard, now free of his VW obligations stepping in to run the show. This one evolves out of a previous rumor that Bernhard was going to be hired to succeed Magna founder Frank Stronach who may be ready to retire.

[Source: Just-Auto - subscription required]